


Music Is Magic

by VulcanRavenClaw



Series: Music is Magic [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Coming of Age
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:07:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 34,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25814770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VulcanRavenClaw/pseuds/VulcanRavenClaw
Summary: How would the wizarding world be different if Charlie had let his adventurous side take over a little early?A story where Charlie meets some muggles, Ron gets a work ethic, and all of the changes that happen as a result.I only have one pairing cemented, the rest will be up to how the story progresses.
Relationships: Charlie Weasley/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Music is Magic [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2079837
Comments: 17
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Looking at first and second year Ron, I saw myself as a younger kid. I’m the youngest of three and lived with quite a few hand-me-downs. My brothers were both athletically and educationally gifted. Even now, over a decade after I graduated high school, some of my brother’s records still stand. However, I had some different influences that let me get through my insecurities, and there was one thing in particular that helped me: music.
> 
> This story starts two years prior to Harry and Ron starting at Hogwarts. I believe at least some, if not most of Ron’s laziness is learned due to a lack of confidence--why try if you’re going to get beat?
> 
> I don’t own the characters or the wizarding world, that goes to JKR and the various publishing conglomerates
> 
> Also most chapters will be accompanied by a playlist, they will likely get shorter as we get deeper into the story, but the first few chapters will be at least 10-15 songs. While the story itself will generally be pretty tame, there likely will be some parental advisory songs that occur on the playlists.  
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4c7mBtCe9KzRWEW4giEEcy?si=Zacl33C1SY2ktf4ck6uGNQ
> 
> Enjoy!

Summer 1989

“Charlie!” the boy’s mother called up the stairs. 

After a disgruntled sigh, which luckily couldn’t be heard by his mother, Charlie Weasley called back, “Coming mum!” and began half trudging, half falling down the stairs to see what his mother wanted now. 

“Charlie, the Hogwarts letters have arrived, and Bill has been offered an interview with Gringotts!” she gushed. “So I’m going to be taking him to Diagon Alley to find some new robes for him. I’ll be taking the twins with me to get their Hogwarts robes. Percy wants to get some new quills, and Ginny will be coming as well.”

“What about Ron?” Charlie asked with a pit forming in his stomach.

“That’s why I called. I’ll need you to watch Ron for a few hours,” she stated.

Charlie had seen it coming, and it still hit him. He had plans--not important plans, but plans nonetheless. He was a Seeker, though, and was used to thinking quickly. As he saw it there were two options: explain his plans and try to reason with his mother and lose and raise her suspicions, or simply accept his fate and work out what to do with his little brother later. So he paused and said with the whiniest voice he could muster, “Do I have to?”

“Yes,” his mother said simply, “and I do appreciate your help. I’ll try to pick you up something small, is there anything you’ll need for quidditch this year?”

“New gloves would be great. Bill would know what to get, but it’s not a big deal,” Charlie said quickly, understanding his family’s finances better than his mother knew. “I didn’t have anything planned today except for practicing and trying to get some of my homework done. I got some tips from Hagrid for my Care of Magical Creatures class, and I think I can handle Ron. When are you leaving?”

“As soon as I can get the rest of the herd together. Plan on ten minutes,” his mother stated.

“Ok,” Charlie said with a smirk. “Twenty minutes.” 

A quick snort of laughter came from the door. “Try thirty,” a sweaty Bill said, coming in from the garden “Actually, what’s happening?”

Mrs. Weasley’s face contorted in an absolutely fascinating combination, caught between beaming with pride and sheer annoyance with her eldest son. “You were offered an interview at Gringotts.”

Bill's eyebrows receded into his hairline in surprise. “Really?” he asked, rushing forward to grab the letter from his mother.

“With your marks and recommendations, why not?” Molly Weasley asked in a bit of a huff.

“She’s right, you worked hard to get that job” Charlie said with a smile.

“Thanks,” Bill said, seeming a little shell-shocked.

“Yes, yes” Mrs. Weasley started, “We had better get going, Bill you’ll be coming with me to get you some more robes, Charlie has agreed to watch Ron.”

Forty minutes later, Charlie and his younger brother Ron watched as the rest of their siblings departed. Once they were all gone, Charlie turned to his younger brother: “Alright kid, here’s the deal. You know how I disappear and practice quidditch all the time for hours on end?” Ron merely nodded mutely. “I’m not always playing quidditch. I have some plans today. You can come with me if you promise to be cool. If you’re going to spazz out and tell Mum, Dad, or Percy, we can’t do it, and if you’re going to be annoying we can’t do it.”

Ron’s eyes had grown throughout his brother's little speech. “How did you get so good at quidditch?” were the first words out of his mouth.

Charlie chuckled: “Just because I don’t practice all the time doesn’t mean I don’t practice. I only started these little trips last summer. You can ask two more questions. Then I need an answer from you.”

“Where are we going?”

“Into town.” 

“Will we get into trouble?”

“I haven’t yet. If we get caught, probably not much, at least not for you, though I’ll get into a lot of trouble if you tell. Now it’s my turn: can you be cool?”

Ron hesitated for only a moment. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was getting himself into, but this was his older brother, offering to take him on an unknown adventure. And Ron wouldn’t get into trouble. How could he say anything else? “I’ll try… I’ll do my best.”

Charlie shook his head and said solemnly, “Do or do not. There is no try.”

“What?”

“I need you to do it. Not try.” Charlie said smiling. “Can you be cool?” 

“Yes?”

“A bit more confident kid. Come on.”

“Yes,” Ron answered with an uncertain smile.

“Good,” Charlie said, thinking that he could still have fun today. “You’ve got five minutes to get ready. That’s when I’m leaving. I’m already going to be a little late as it is. Just get cleaned up and changed--muggle clothes. I’m going to get ready, and I’ll meet you out front in a few minutes.”

Three minutes later, an excited Ron was mounting a broom that might have counted as an heirloom at this point, but it was well-cared for and flew true. Charlie, meanwhile, was already up and practicing his aerial acrobatics. As the younger Weasley took off the elder pulled along-side and pointed both brooms towards Ottery-St-Catchpole.

“Here’s the deal, Ron. I’ve got plans to hang out with some of my friends -”

“But the only wizards around are the Lovegoods, the Diggorys, and the Fawcetts,” Ron cut in, clearly confused.

“True,” Charlie said with a chuckle before continuing with an impressive level of patience. “You’ve started playing chess, right? Think a few steps back and ahead.”

“You’ve got…” Ron trailed off, the wonder thick in his voice, “muggle friends?” 

“Of course. And I’m working on a few things, so follow with me here, alright? I’ve got some muggle friends. We generally just hang out, listen to some music, maybe watch a film or some telly --all muggle of course. And that’s part one of this operation: they don’t know about magic, and you can’t tell them.”

“Ok… But, what do we do?” Ron asked, more concerned about being bored now that he knew where they were going.

“We hang out. We listen to music. We watch films and telly. Sometimes, we go out and do things. As I said, my friends don’t know about magic--Statute of Secrecy and all that. So they think we live on a farm, which is basically true. So you can talk about your chores and the chickens, but mostly, it’ll be safer for you if you just answer questions. Oh, and if they ask about school, I doubt they will, but I go to ‘boarding school’ and you are ‘home schooled,’” Charlie continued. “Follow me. We’re going to land soon, and we’ll be walking into town.”

The brothers landed in a clearing just outside the town and dismounted their brooms. Ron looked around, recognizing the clearing his mother would apparate him to when they went into town for groceries. While Ron looked around, Charlie stuffed his and Ron’s brooms into his magically expanded rucksack and pulled out a smallish, black case. Charlie began walking to town with Ron hurrying a bit to catch up.

Ron continued asking questions, mostly receiving vague and distracted answers in return. As they turned down a side road, Ron slowly noticed a bounce entering his brother's step, and he began to hum a tune that Ron didn’t recognize at all. As they turned up the walk to a house that to Ron was only remarkable for the noise emanating from it. Ron was getting nervous, and his steps began to falter. By the time Charlie reached the door and opened it, he noticed Ron still several paces back. “Come on Ron, I promise, it’ll be fine,” Charlie said with a smile that was clearly excited.

As he ushered Ron into the house, Charlie began to sing loudly enough to cut through some of the noise, “Here comes the sun, doo doo doo. Here comes the sun, and I say it’s all right.” In the middle of this, a feminine squeal was heard from the next room, and even as Ron and Charlie removed their shoes and made their way farther into the house, a turquoise streak rocketed into Charlie's arms.

Ron stood awkwardly, watching his brother snogging the girl with the bizarre hair. Charlie soon broke apart and softly continued, “Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter,” to which the girl chuckled warmly. Charlie, then seeming to remember his brother was there, said, “Ren, this is my little brother, Ron. I’ve been put in charge of him for the day while my mother took the rest of my siblings to town to get some school supplies. Ron, this is my girlfriend, Karen.” He stated warmly.

“Hi Ron!” Karen gushed and quickly pulled him into a quick, but tight hug. “It’s great to finally meet one of Charlie’s brothers. Come on, I’ll introduce you to the rest of the gang. I think Gillian, Ellie, and Mark brought their siblings, too. They’re upstairs in Beth’s room,” she continued as she turned back through the doorway she had launched herself through. “Charlie’s here!” she called.

“Yeah, I think between his singing and your squealing, we figured that out,” said a boy wearing all black in a bored voice, to general laughter.

“Be nice. He had to bring his little brother,” she responded good naturedly, pulling Ron around her. “Everyone, this is Ron. Ron this is everyone” 

Ron waved weakly at the grinning group of young teens.

Karen began pointing to people in turn: “Ian, Deb, Ellie, Gillian, Jimmy, Sharon, Bryan, and the comedian in the back is my older brother, Colin.” Each time someone was named they smiled, nodded, or waved. “I’m sure you can stay with us for a bit, but there are some younger kids upstairs if you’d rather go hang out with them.”

Ron looked like a deer in the headlights at having to actually speak. “Uhm…” he said before looking back to Charlie.

“Up to you kid. We’re just gonna be chatting and listening to some tunes. I don’t care what you do,” Charlie said. “I don’t mind if you stay down here. I know it’s a bit much right now,” he continued before finding a spot on a couch.

Ron nodded mutely and went to sit next to his brother. Karen walked over, and after a short exchange, Charlie slid off the couch and sat on the ground, and Karen took his vacated spot with her legs on either side of him, hand already tangled in his hair.

Time passed in a blur for Ron. Music was played--fantastic music he had never heard the likes of before. His brother and his friends seemed to chat about everything and nothing, but mostly the focus seemed to be on music. Every now and then, Karen would turn to him, asking if he was ok, or if he needed anything. He would smile and shake his head, trying to continually follow the conversation and soak in as much as he could. 

After a couple hours, Charlie looked over at Ron: “What do you think?”

When Ron only blinked, he heard Karen let out a little giggle. “Uhm… About what?”

“Well,” Charlie said, “we can stay a bit longer and risk Mum and everyone getting home while we’re here, or we can play it safe. What do you think?”

Seeing Karen stick out her bottom lip in a pout, Ron said, “We can stay. I mean, Mum has the twins. They’re good for at least an extra hour of distractions, right?”

Charlie smiled conspiratorially: “Good call.” 

Karen beamed and then looked around: “Charlie, I had something to show you before you have to go anyway.” This comment had a strange effect on Charlie who immediately stood and turned in a surprisingly smooth motion pulling Karen out of the sofa and into his arms for a quick kiss.

“Lead on,” he said, allowing her to lead him. When he got to the stairs he called over his shoulder, “Ron, if you want, you can keep hanging out down here, or the second door on the right upstairs is Beth’s room.”

Ron’s eyes grew wide at his sudden abandonment before one of the other boys in the room, Brian, Ron thought, said, “It’ll be alright. We don’t bite.” 

Ron stayed put, continuing, to try to absorb both the conversation around him and the music. When Charlie’s bag began beeping again, Ron was snapped from his reverie as his eyes grew wide in panic. He reached in and only found the brooms, and couldn’t find the source of the beeping. He looked up at the group apologetically: “I’m sorry; I don’t know how to make it stop.” Most of them responded and said it was fine. Two of the young girls got up to help, and he quickly said, “Charlie doesn’t like people going through his stuff.” Ron pulled the bag to his chest.

“Alright,” Colin responded. “Go up the stairs--third door on the left.”

Ron nodded and headed up the stairs, not noticing the shocked looks being sent at Colin.

Running up the stairs, completely missing the shocked whispers and laughter coming from the room he just left. He must have made quite a lot of noise as a young girl, about Ron’s own age popped her head out of the door and stopped him, confused. “Who are you?” 

“Ron, Charlie’s brother,” Ron said a little breathlessly. “Colin told me Charlie was up here, and I think we need to leave. He said third door on the left.” As he got up to the blond girl and tried to step past, she grabbed his arm.

“Colin said third door on the left?” 

“Yes.”

“You can’t just barge in there!” she said, shocked. “Hang on.” And she walked to the door and knocked, quietly at first. When no answer came, she knocked a bit louder.

A disgruntled voice called, “What!?”

“Charlie’s brother needs to talk to him!” 

While they waited Ron said, “Thanks… What’s your name?”

“I’m Beth, Karen and Colin’s little sister,” she said with a smile. “If I hadn’t stopped you, would you have run straight in there?”

“Probably. Why?” Ron asked confused

Beth shook her head with an odd smile. “I made that mistake once... Just… Always knock.”

Ron simply nodded mutely, not really understanding what was going on or why Karen sounded so annoyed when Beth had called to her. 

“They’ll probably be a few minutes. If you want I can introduce you to some of the other kids who get brought here,” Beth smiled.

Ron simply held up the still-beeping bag.

Beth maintained her smile: “Eh. Just leave it here. It’s Charlies right?” Ron nodded, and before he could object, she deftly took the bag and hung it on the doorknob to her elder sister’s room. “Now he’ll know why you came, might calm him down a bit. Come on. This is Ron, he’s Charlie’s brother,” she stated as she walked into the room. “Ron, this is Raymond, Hazel, and Samantha.” 

“Call me Sam,” said the black-haired girl quickly before continuing, “So, Charlie’s brother, eh?”

“Yup.” Ron said simply, still a little lost by everything happening.

“Charlie’s been in there with Karen a while. Where were you?” Raymond asked.

“Downstairs, listening to everyone down there and listening to their music,” Ron answered.

“But… Why?” Hazel asked. “All they do is talk about music.”

“Yeah? My family doesn’t listen to much music.” Ron said, “Except for around Christmas, when my mother plays some terrible stuff, but that was pretty much all I’d heard before today.”

“No music?” Beth asked, astonished and a little horrified. “That’s terrible. What do you do with your time?”

“Mostly work, we have a… farm.” Ron faltered trying to remember his cover story. “And school stuff,” he added hastily trying to remember Charlies instructions.

“That’s… It?” Raymond asked incredulously. “That sounds pretty boring.”

Ron seemed taken aback and became more than a little defensive “It’s not so bad, I’ve got some older brothers who are twins and pull all sorts of pranks. It’s really fun watching them driving everyone else crazy, even me sometimes.”

“But no music, and I’ve heard Charlie say that you guys don’t even own a TV,” Beth said a little sadly. 

Ron seemed baffled. Luckily before the interrogation could continue he saw a somewhat disheveled Charlie slid into the door. “Hey Ron, sorry about that. We should probably head home,” he said, sounding harried.

“Bye everyone,” Ron said as he followed Charlie, “and thank you.”

They continued down the stairs to a small round of applause from the boys and general smirks from the girls. Charlie scoffed and waved to everyone: “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

At that comment, Ron paused and looked around and found a messy haired Karen behind him. “If it’s ok with Charlie, can I come back tomorrow?”

Karen smiled warmly down at him “I don’t mind. Anyone else?” No one objected, though unbeknownst to Ron, a few of them rolled their eyes.

Charlie merely shook his head with a small chuckle as he walked to the front door. Karen had followed the two red-headed boys and before they left gave Charlie a quick kiss. “See you tomorrow--unless you think you can make tonight happen.”

“I’m not sure. I’ll do my best.” Charlie said, shooting Ron a glance.

The two boys began the walk back to the clearing. Ron was trying to process everything. “How long have you been coming here?” he asked.

“Last summer I decided to wander around town a little bit after practicing. I checked out a few shops, just wandering in and seeing what was what. There was a record store, and I was just looking around when Ellie walked up and told me that her friend thought I was cute. I figured what’s the worst that could happen, so I looked over and saw who the most red-faced person was in the group she had come from.” Charlie laughed a little at the memory. “I learned a lot about girls and muggles in general last summer. When I got back from Hogwarts this summer I immediately went to find them again. Remember the day after Bill and I got back, and Mum almost skinned me alive for being late for dinner? I was with them--more specifically most of the later portion I was with Karen, just walking around town and talking.”

“But,” Ron started, a little flustered, “what about the music?”

“What about it?”

“Where did it all come from? How did you find out about it? Do you ever listen to any of it at home? Or Hogwarts?”

Charlie chuckled at his little brother’s exuberance, but the light in his eyes dimmed. “Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to pull off much of that. I asked dad about a phonograph last summer, and he dug one out of the attic, so I can borrow some records to listen to at home, Unfortunately, that only goes so far. Most music these days is on tapes and CDs, and I haven’t heard of a way to make either player work with magic. And there’s a phonograph in the common room, but how would I get the records back? I doubt they’d want to lend me records for most of the year, and it’s not like I could send them back with Errol. Who knows if he’d be able to make it? And even if I used one of the Hogwarts owls, it’s not like muggles would really understand that.” He sighed, growing a little melancholy.

After this, Ron settled down to ask about the music that they had listened to. The interrogation continued all the way back to the broom shed where they placed their brooms, and Charlie turned seriously to his brother: “Were you serious about wanting to come back with me tomorrow?”

“Yes!” Ron practically bounced off the ground with excitement. “I mean, if that’s ok.” 

“That’s fine, but this is our secret--all of it. And if you hear me lie, just try to keep your face straight, and agree with what I said if Mum asks you about anything, got it?” This earned a solemn nod from Ron, “Fine,” Charlie continued, “and if you hear me say anything about tonight, just keep your mouth shut. Karen has wanted this date for a bit, and I just need to come up with something that’ll work for Mum.”

Ron nodded again, not willing to risk saying anything that might get him in trouble now that he was sure he’d get to go back. 

As they entered the back door, they heard their mother calling for them.

“Hey, Mum!” Ron called back.

“Oh, goodness, where were you? We got back a minute or two ago and couldn’t track you down.”

“It’s fine mum,” Charlie cut in quickly. “I wanted to get some practice in, and Ron wanted to get some time in the air as well. Don’t worry. I made sure he didn’t get too high, and we were just back in the paddock.”

“Well then,” Mrs. Weasley said, smiling brightly, “you had a good day then?” The question was phrased like it was for both of them, but Charlie knew this was directed at Ron, testing him.

“Brilliant!” Ron said. At his mother’s surprised look, he suddenly felt unsure of himself. Worried he might have given something away, he thought quickly: “Charlie helped me get a little quicker on the broom, gave me some really good tips...” Ron trailed off. 

As soon as he could, Ron bolted for the door and up to his room where he just closed his eyes and remembered some of the songs he had listened to. It was amazing the variety he had heard today, and he was trying to keep track of everything. He pulled out a scrap of parchment and began jotting down some of his favorites, and he enjoyed recounting some of the conversations in his head, though he barely understood some of them. It was almost like another language. He wrote Run DMC and Air-O-Smith down and recalled a fun bout of bickering:

_“Just hear me out on this one,” Brian was almost shouting over the objections to the suggestion. “I’m never going to say Aerosmith is good, but this collaboration with Run DMC is really interesting. Just give it a shot. I’m telling you, without this track we don’t get the Beastie Boys or the Red Hot Chili Peppers.”_

__

_After the song was done, Colin piped up, “Not terrible, but if you want to talk about kicking a genre up we can’t forget about the MC5. Without them does punk get as big?”_

____

_“Who cares what came first? Can we listen to something a little calmer? I just picked this up, and I’ve heard great things about this guy,” Ellie had interrupted, putting a new record on. What followed was a slow piano opening followed by a man talking about food with a laughing audience before beginning to sing with a thoroughly gravelly voice._

_____ _

Ron wrote, “Nighthawks at the Diner”? There had been so much.

_____ _

A quick knock on the door, and Charlie entered. “Hey, nice work with Mum. Did you really have that much fun?” he asked.

_____ _

“Yeah, that music was… It was something,” Ron said, still excited. “What was your favorite?”

_____ _

“Band? I’m a fan of the Beatles personally. Some of the newer stuff is pretty good, but for the most part I’d be happy just listening to the music of the Sixties. How about you? What are you writing, anyway?” Ron handed him the piece of parchment, Charlie scanned it and laughed at a few spots: “Spelling aside, this is a really interesting list. You’ve got 4 or 5 genres covered here spanning a few decades. You liked all this stuff?”

_____ _

Ron nodded fervently: “I promise I won’t be annoying if you let me come tomorrow. I wanted to ask Ellie a question about one of the songs she played.” He pointed to a note he had jotted down.

_____ _

“I don’t recognize that one.”

_____ _

“It was after you…” Ron trailed off awkwardly

_____ _

“Ah… Sorry about that,” Charlie said, not sounding it at all. “Girls, and all that.” Ron nodded. “By the way, thanks for not bursting in, Beth did that once and it was… Awkward”

_____ _

Ron paused: “Well, she actually stopped me. Colin just said which room you were in--I think he wanted me to walk in on… Whatever you were doing there.”

_____ _

At that, Charlie gaped, then chuckled, and after a few seconds turned into a full-on belly laugh. “Remind me tomorrow if I don’t mention it to thank Beth and smack Colin.” Ron nodded, laughing lightly along with his brother. It seemed the thing to do.

_____ _

“Oh, I had an idea about listening to more music,” Ron said quickly, snapping back to a thought that had popped into his head while recounting a conversation the older kids had been having about bootleg live tapes in his bedroom. “The Lovegoods! Mrs. Lovegood is supposedly a really good spell designer, and they are always into odd stuff. Maybe she’d be willing to help.”

_____ _

Charlie’s eyes lit up “That’s brilliant Ron! Why didn’t I think of that? Now I…” His face fell as the light faded from his eyes. “...only need a tape deck or Walkman and headphones.”

_____ _

“Are they expensive?”

_____ _

Charlie seemed to shrug without really moving: “A bit. I wonder though. I’m going to go. If you want to come tomorrow, be ready by 10. You might have to get up earlier to get your chores done.” Ron nodded emphatically, “Good,” was all Charlie said as he walked away.

_____ _

Ron laid back on his bed, replaying various tunes in his head over and over again for another hour before being summoned for dinner. When he got downstairs, he noticed one of his brothers was missing. “Where’s Charlie?”

_____ _

“He had an idea for some school project or other and wanted to ask Mrs. Lovegood about it,” Mr. Weasley answered from his position at the head of the table. “Though it must be a big project. He said he might be gone for several hours. Not sure exactly what he’s working on, but he seemed very pleased with the idea.”

_____ _

Ron smiled, thinking about the potential for his idea. As soon as Ron had served himself a little of everything, he staked his elbows into the table to fend off food thieves and quickly devoured everything on his plate, not joining into the boisterous conversation to his normal extent.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own the characters or the wizarding world, that goes to JKR and the various publishing conglomerates
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7pDlmAF6hB4JLqSDoA0LYw?si=5AEgzskOQWS5r05IdBgVzA

The next morning, Ron set his alarm clock for 6 am. He wanted to make absolutely sure that he didn’t miss Charlie leaving. He bounced down the stairs, startling both his father and mother when he entered the kitchen.. 

“Good morning, Mum and Dad,” he said as he entered the kitchen, nearly knocking them off their chairs in shock. 

“Good morning Ron! What’s got you out of bed so early?” his father asked in polite surprise.

“I just wanted to make sure I got my chores done. Charlie said if I did, he would take me with when he went to practice again,” Ron said happily. “I know I normally do my chores later, but I was hoping it would be ok...”

His parents exchanged an oddly bemused glance and before his mother answered, “Certainly. That should be fine.” Ron nodded and marched out the door, did his best with the unfamiliar chores, but completed them with a reasonable amount of speed and competence. He hurried back into the house to ask his parents if there was anything else he could help with.

At this, they shared another odd look, and Mr. Weasley turned to Ron. “Let’s step outside for a moment and see, eh?”

Ron nodded, a bit confused, but went with his father as they stepped outside just in time to see Charlie coming around the corner of the house looking fairly sweaty. “Ah, well timed,” Mr. Weasley said cheerily. “Charlie, come here for just a moment.” Charlie paused in his walk and shot Ron a quick, suspicious look.

“Now, I know that Ron is very keen to make the house quidditch team when he gets to Hogwarts, but I struggle to imagine that he’s so keen as to all of a sudden get up 2 hours earlier than normal, simply to practice with his older brother,” Mr. Weasley continued genially, primarily speaking to Charlie. “I have a feeling this isn’t just about quidditch, and that’s ok. I know you boys won’t get into anything too terrible, and I think we can keep it our secret, but it will be easier for me to block your mother from investigating too deeply if I at least know what’s going on. In fact, I might be able to help a bit if you need it,” he finished. He was smiling warmly at both of them, though his focus was on Ron, probably assuming he would be the first to break.

“Dad,” Charlie began slowly, “I actually needed to talk to you about this anyway. It is partly in relation to my project with Mrs. Lovegood-- Pandora-- she insisted I call her by her first name. I’m hoping to go in to Ottery St. Catchpole to find a job for the summer to help buy supplies for it. I can make sure I get my chores done, but after that I’ll probably be gone most of the days for the summer,” he said, giving his father what he hoped would be enough of the truth to satisfy his curiosity. Based on the slightly narrowed eyes, he didn’t think he had succeeded.

“Well that sounds wonderful Charlie,” his father started (with a not insubstantial amount of suspicion), “but what does that have to do with your younger brother?”

“He came with yesterday when I went into town for a bit. I think I know where I can get a job. That’s why I was gone for so long last evening. He had fun; I think that’s it. I’d be working in a small shop, and I talked to the owner. He’s alright with Ron coming with me when I’m working sometimes.”

“Ah, well that makes sense-- but you’d be earning muggle money. You’ll need to convert it at Gringotts, right?”

“No, actually my project requires muggle money,” Charlie said quickly. “I’m working with Pandora to make a muggle product that runs on electricity run on magic. Although I would probably convert some. It would probably help if I could buy some of my own Hogwarts supplies, and once my project is done, some of the money could go to that.”

Mr. Weasley’s eyes were alight with interest: “Brilliant! That would be amazing Charlie, it would probably help some muggleborns cope a bit better with Hogwarts and the magical world, plus it would open up vast new areas of entertainment to wizards!” He was almost shouting. “Well I certainly don’t want to stand in your way, and I appreciate your offer to help, but I don’t think it’s strictly necessary right now.”

“Dad is there anything else you need Ron to do?” Charlie asked, clearly trying to get his little brother out of the way for a moment.

“No, Ron, you can go get cleaned up for breakfast. We’ll be in soon.” His father said, now eyeing Charlie with interest.

Ron turned and made a beeline for the door, attempting to hurry to get to his room where he knew the window was already open to hear the rest of the exchange.

“I understand, son, I do. And if you want to help, or even buy your little brothers and sister something that’d be great. I’m not going to deny that the sickles can get tight around here,” Mr. Weasley said hesitantly. “No matter what, I certainly appreciate you taking Ron a bit more under your wing. I wish I had more time to spend with him, but after a day at the Ministry…” he trailed off sadly.

“I understand Dad,” Charlie said, “and if Ron has even noticed I’m sure he does too, or at least he will. We know you love what you do, and we appreciate all you do around here. I’m going to see about that job, and if nothing else, I can help with Christmas this year. I’d like to keep the job for a bit, especially if this project with Pandora works out, maybe working their over the holidays and next summer too.” 

Even from his room, Ron could hear the pride in his father’s voice. “I suppose your mother has done something right raising you boys.” 

“You too, dad. Not just mum,” Charlie said a little sadly, heading for the house.

Ron was pulling his clothes for the day out when he heard the door open. “Hey, kid,” Charlie said “Thanks for not letting anything go, and for bailing out when you did. I was serious about the job, and I was also serious about you coming with if you want. I’ll show you the spot today if we can head out right after breakfast. Let’s get cleaned up and get down there to face mum.”

Breakfast was uneventful, though Percy seemed more put out than was reasonable to expect at having to swap chores with Ron, even though Ron’s were significantly easier. Apparently, he liked the routine. But shortly after breakfast, Ron and Charlie were once again on their way into town. Mrs. Weasley looked on the edge of tears, but didn’t put up a fuss. In short order, they were back in town and weaving through the streets of the muggle town center to a slightly rundown storefront.

“Good morning, Mr. Kemp!” Charlie called as he walked into the door.

Ron followed him in, simply gazing at the room. It was full to bursting with records and tapes, with posters plastering the walls and an almost absurd amount of shelves and bins filled to the brim. He could hear his brother speaking with the older man, but was too gobsmacked to notice. He wandered around the shop wide-eyed at the wide range of art and albums adorning nearly every surface of the shop, both horizontal and vertical. Soon, though, as if from a distance, he heard his name.

“Ron, come over here. You need to meet Mr. Kemp,” Charlie called.

“‘Lo, young man,” came the curiously mellow voice of the gruff-looking Mr. Kemp. “Your brother here tells me you’ll be minding the shop with him from time to time?” Ron simply nodded in response.

“Right then,” Kemp said with an odd smile as he crouched down to meet Ron face to face. “You’re pretty young so I don’t expect much, but I’d like you to be useful if you’re around. I expect we can find some things for you to do over the coming days, but for now, just follow me, and pay attention,” he said as he straightened back up.

“I’ll try, Mr. Kemp.” Ron said solemnly.

“Do or do not, there is no try.” Kemp said to Ron’s utter bewilderment as his brother snorted with an odd sort of smile. _Where was that phrase from?_ “Also, just call me Kemp.”

Kemp walked them through the shop, pointing out types of music and specialty items before ambling behind the counter, “Here’s the till,” he said a little resignedly as he pointed at a small pad with numbers and some sort of paper running through it. Directly under the odd device was a small metal box with a lock on it, “It’s not great, but it’s all that I can get. Basically, you just add all the totals up, and you will get the total to charge the customer.” 

Charlie asked, “Can you really quick show me what it would look like? I just haven’t used one of those before.” He pointed at the little machine.

“Sure,” Kemp trailed off. “I know you boys are from the country, but have you been to school?”

“Our parents taught us for a bit, I go to a boarding school but it’s… specific,” Charlie said quickly “I’m a quick learner. You show me once; I can do it again.”

Kemp nodded. “Sure thing. Ron, first job, go grab three items. Whatever you want.” 

Ron nodded and went out looking through some of the items. After ten minutes, he noticed some laughing from the counter area. He looked over his shoulder and saw Charlie and Kemp talking and looking at him. “No worries, son,” Kemp said, smiling.

After another few minutes, Ron carried three albums over to the counter. As Kemp slid each album for a peak at the price, he glanced at the choices. The first two, Jimi Hendrix “ _Electric Ladyland_ ” and The Beastie Boys “ _Licensed to Ill_ ,” earned an odd look. When the final album was revealed Kemp just gave Charlie a bemused look, then gave Ron a look that he couldn’t interpret. 

“This one?” Kemp asked holding it so Ron could clearly see the cover.

Ron was suddenly unsure of himself, but he nodded and gestured to Charlie. “One of his friends played one of the songs on here, and I really liked it. Sorry it took so long. I remembered the name, but I wasn’t sure how it would be described, so I had to check a few different sections…” Ron trailed off at the smile he was getting from Kemp.

“What is that one, anyway?” Charlie asked, clearly not recognizing the artwork or name.

“This, Charlie, is a band called “The Men They Couldn’t Hang,” best described as a cross between folk and punk. Interesting stuff.”

“Oh yeah, I heard Colin mention them, but I guess I hadn’t seen the cover,” Charlie responded.

“Interesting range your brother seems to have. Anyway, let’s show you how to ring this up.” He went to the till and began punching in the keys. “Every time you hit add, subtract, whatever, it’ll print it out onto the ticket so you can see instantly if you made a mistake and correct it right away. Ten-keys are pretty straightforward, as you can see,” he said, entering the numbers, and Charlie seemed to understand what was happening, so Ron didn’t worry about it much.

“Alright boys, that’s the deal? Are you ready to get to work?”

“Yes, sir,” the Weasleys replied in unison.

“Perfect, I’m going to pop this record on,” he said, holding up Ron’s final choice. “Ron, go flip the sign over, and Charlie, grab a notebook from the back. You and your brother are going to do an inventory of a new lot I bought this past weekend. It’s in the back; mostly vinyl and tapes.”

Over the course of the day the Weasley brothers found a rhythm, but Ron ended up mostly shifting between flipping through the records and asking Kemp if he could swap out the vinyl. The first few times, there was some scratching and Kemp took a moment to walk him through how the equipment worked and how to avoid damaging the merchandise, but soon, he simply let Ron choose the music, bouncing from genre to genre. Soon, the work day was over for the boys, and Kemp was ushering them out the front door, and they were moving on to their next round of plans.

As they walked up to the door to Karen’s house, rather than walking straight in Charlie paused and knocked on the door. Soon, a man opened the door who, Ron assumed, must be Karen’s father.

“Charlie!” he said happily. “And, who is this?”

“Mr. Blakemore, this is my little brother, Ron. He helped me out on my first day of work,” Charlie said. “Is Karen around?”

“Certainly, but I’ll let you surprise them. They’re in the shed. Will you be staying for dinner?”

“If it’s not too much trouble, that’d be great, but we don’t want to impose,” Charlie said with a smile already knowing the answer he’d receive.

“If I said no I’d have to deal with an angry Karen through dinner. Feeding an extra pair of mouths seems the easier option,” Mr. Blakemore said with a smile. “Head on back. Dinner will be ready in about an hour or two.”

Charlie gave a quick nod and walked past Mr. Blakemore with Ron following closely behind him. They moved quickly through the house and into the back garden where they entered a shed built up against the back wall of the house.

Ron, knowing the Weasley’s family broom cupboard and shed, wasn’t exactly looking forward to spending time among the spiders and dirt. He was shocked to find a small and reasonably comfortable sitting room inside, complete with strings of small lights, a few rugs and a variety of old, but comfortable looking furniture.

Karen bounced off of her spot on the couch and into Charlies arms and greeted him most enthusiastically without words.

Colin called, “Ron, they may be a minute if you want to come in here and sit down.” Charlie waved an arm and grunted, but didn’t stop his other activities. After Ron maneuvered around the couple and over to the sitting area, Colin continued, “So, are you going to be a regular tagalong, then?”

Ron shrugged.

“Could be worse. I imagine it can get a little boring out in the country. What have you guys been up to?” Colin continued, trying to get the boy to speak up.

“I went to work with Charlie. He works at the record store now. It was his first day, and Mr. Kemp said I could go and ‘hang out,’” Ron started, and as he spoke, he sped up in his excitement. “Mr. Kemp let me pick music all day. I helped a little, but mostly he let me just pick music. He called me the ‘ginger DJ,’ but I’m not really sure what he meant.” Ron trailed off in a little confusion due to the snickers from Colin and the fairly loud snort from Karen that interrupted her greeting of Charlie.

“A DJ is who chooses the music and talks on the wireless, Ron,” Charlie said, stifling further laughter. 

“If we could get you to talk a little more, maybe that’s what you could be when you grew up,” Karen said warmly.

“Maybe. Choosing the music was fun. There was all sorts of stuff to play there, but not all of it was very good.” 

“That’s true. You played some questionable stuff,” Charlie said, smirking as Karen pulled him to a couch.

“I didn’t have my notes,” Ron said, looking at his brother and immediately turning pink seeing him happily laying with Karen snogging and ignoring the siblings in the room.

“Notes?” Colin asked, bringing Ron to a less embarrassing topic.

“Well, yeah. I was writing down some of the music you and the rest of the group was playing yesterday, but I didn’t expect I’d get to pick the music. Although I probably should have brought something to write down what Mr. Kemp played.”

“Anything in particular you liked?” the interrogation continued.

“There was a lot, I really should have taken notes,” Ron trailed off again a little annoyed with himself for being unprepared. “There’s just so much. I still want to know about that song that Ellie played. The guy was singing about food and had a really gravelly voice.” 

To Ron’s surprise Colin opened a notebook that had been on the side table and flipped a few pages. “Oh yeah, I remember that. I liked that one a lot, had some great piano runs,” he said as he went through pages. “Tom Waits, Eggs and Sausage, off his album Nighthawks at the Diner.” He looked up and noticed the surprised look on Ron’s face. “Benefits of staying close to the stereo--I get eyes on everything that gets put on, so I can jot stuff down that I like.” At that, he reached behind his chair and pulled out a small box, digging for a moment pulling out notebook after notebook before discarding each one. Finally, he grabbed one that seemed to satisfy him. He slipped a pen onto the front cover and tossed it to Ron “Keep it on you. Working with Kemp I’m sure you’ll fill that up with notes pretty quickly.”

“Thanks. Are you sure?” Ron asked. Ron was stunned by the extravagance of the gift, especially from someone he barely knew. 

Colin tipped the box filled with notebooks to show Ron. “I think I’ll be able to compensate for the dear loss,” he said with a smirk.

A knock came and Ron laughed as Karen simply pushed Charlie off the couch as they tried to prepare for whoever was coming through the door. “Hey, kids,” came a woman’s voice as the door was pushed open. “I hear we’ll be having some guests for dinner, so my plan won’t really work.” She was pointedly looking away from the two young teens with mussed hair and towards the other pair. “Ron, how would you feel about pizza for dinner?”

Ron simply froze. _What was pizza? Who was this?_ Luckily, his older brother stepped in. “Good evening, Mrs. Blakemore. Pizza would be great. We don’t get that at home very often. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure if Ron’s even had it yet.”

At that last comment, the eyebrows of everyone without red hair rose steadily into the upper reaches of their foreheads.

Colin chimed in, “Goodness, I knew you guys were pretty sheltered out there, but no pizza? That’s just sad.”

Mrs. Blakemore looked a little shocked but tried to act as if the information hadn’t startled her. “Sounds good. I guess no point in asking about particular toppings?” She directed the latter at Charlie.

“The kid likes food. A lot. But no, I don’t think anything in particular. Though my personal request is no fish,” Charlie said simply. This comment received vigorous agreement from the rest of the shed.

Mrs. Blakemore nodded and left. Charlie and Karen seemed to have enough snogging for the moment and joined the conversation.

“Do you think we could do something special after dinner?” Charlie began.

“Define special?” Karen asked with a saucy grin. Colin simply rolled his eyes.

“I was thinking we could watch a film--it’d be Ron’s first. I was thinking _Star Wars_ ,” Charlie said, ignoring his girlfriend’s innuendo. 

“I’m game,” Colin said.

The conversation continued around Ron for a while before another knock on the door came with a shout of “Dinner’s here!” from Mr. Blakemore.

As the group stood and began to file out, Charlie grabbed Ron by the shoulder and turned him away from the door to face him. “Look, I know what eating with the twins around is like. You have to eat as fast as you can to make sure they don’t slip anything in there. They aren’t here. Slow down, and don’t talk with your mouth full.” Charlie gave him a hard stare at this last bit. “I don’t want to have to stop bringing you around, but if you embarrass me or put any of them off I’ll have to stop bringing you. Got it?” 

Ron nodded so hard he thought he might lose his head.

“Good.”

Dinner was bizarre, but delicious. Ron loved it and afterwards they watched _Star Wars_. Ron was blown away. They left as soon as the film was done. Charlie tried to leave when the credits rolled, but Ron wanted to see everything he could and simply refused. He was chattering about the film the entire way home and before they got to the door. Charlie, half amused and half exasperated, agreed with the effusive response but told his younger brother he’d have to tone it down a bit. “And remember, no telling Mum and Dad about the Blakemores. Got it?”

Ron dutifully nodded and they went in.

The brothers’ routine was honed over the coming days. Most often visiting the Blakemores in the evening, sometimes dropping by the Lovegoods’ for testing of equipment (most often borrowed from the shop), and Ron’s newly gifted notebook was half-full of different song lyrics, artists, albums, and song titles in short order. 

Charlie’s return to Hogwarts was coming soon when Kemp pulled Ron aside. “Look, I know your brother isn’t going to be working here much longer and I understand if your parents don’t want you coming in without him, but you’re welcome to come and help out. I know you weren’t expecting to get much for coming in, but here,” he said, handing a few pieces of vinyl to the young boy. But on top of the vinyl was some muggle money. “If it’ll make your parents feel better they can stop in, and we can have a chat,” Kemp said as he walked away.

Ron made a beeline for Charlie, recounting the brief interaction: “Do you think Mum and Dad will let me come back and help once you go back?”

“I don’t see why they wouldn’t. Except Mum will probably want to make sure you get here safely every day. That might not work…” Charlie trailed off. “I guess there’s nothing much else to do but ask tonight.”

On the way home, they stopped by the Lovegoods’ to see how the experimentation was going with a used boombox Charlie had purchased with his first check. After repeated failures, Charlie hadn’t been holding out much hope, but he had refused to give up. Pandora had tried various spells and enchantments, but this time she had requested bringing something that would make it work the way muggles used it. And as such, Charlie had brought a pocketful of batteries, unsure of how it would work in the heavily magic charged area around the Rookery.

Pandora, Xenophilius, and Luna watched in fascination as Charlie inserted the batteries one by one and hit play, eliciting the raucous music of The Who. 

Pandora’s eyes lit up. “Do you have any more of those?”

“Sure,” Charlie answered, handing a spare set over to her.

“And these hold some sort of energy?”

“Electricity,” Charlie stated. “It makes it work, though I don’t really understand how.”

“Can you leave these here? I have an idea, but it may take me a bit. I’ll send an owl if I have a breakthrough,” Pandora said, absent-mindedly turning the batteries over in her hand. Her husband and daughter had begun dancing to the music shortly after it came on with Luna standing on Xeno’s feet.

Charlie nodded. “Sure thing, we have to get home anyway. I have to start getting ready for the Hogwarts Express next week.”

As the brothers flew home Ron started the conversation, “Any recommendations? I’d really like to keep working with Kemp. Plus, then I could buy records and I could help you exchange letters with Karen.”

Charlie didn’t respond immediately, but he seemed rather thoughtful for a moment. “There’s going to be no promises, and either way, I think it would be best for us to talk to Dad first. Maybe see if he’d be willing to Apparate to visit the store tomorrow during his lunch break.”

“I’m going to talk to him. If I’m going to try to go into town without you, I should be able to talk to Dad without you.” Ron said with some determination coming to his eyes.

“You lead. I’ll follow,” Charlie said with a small smile. 

**********************************************  
“Hello boys! How was your day at work?” Mr. Weasley called from the door.

“It was good, Dad. How was yours?” Charlie replied.

“Wonderful, wonderful. Say, you’re--” Mr. Weasley said before getting interrupted

“Dad, can I talk to you for a minute?” Ron had summoned his courage and wasn’t willing to risk it failing him. When his father just stayed where he was looking interested, Ron continued, “Out here?”

Mr. Weasley seemed caught somewhere between intrigued, concerned, and amused as he strolled down to his youngest son.

“Mr. Kemp asked me if I’d be willing to keep helping out around the shop after Charlie left. I know I’m going to be studying, but if I keep up with my chores and studying, I’d really like to do it. I’ll be getting paid, though probably not as much as Charlie was. He even paid me for the last few weeks when I was actually helping a bit more.” Ron reached back to Charlie, silently asking for the items stowed in his expanded bag. When it was handed back, Ron held it out to his father. “If I can have some spending money we can put the rest into a savings account or just use it to help out. Or put it away for when I’m in school.” 

Mr. Weasley looked a little gob-smacked at the declaration and decided some one-on-one time was necessary with his youngest son. “Charlie, did you have anything you want to say before I talk to your brother alone?” Clearly, he recognized that Charlie was staying to help his less experienced sibling.

“Nothing in particular. He’s been great at the shop, and Mr. Kemp has been nice enough. He approached me first and asked if I thought you might be ok with it,” Charlie said while Ron stared at him, shocked at this news. “I didn’t promise anything and I know he’s young, but Mr. Kemp seems to like having someone around to share music with. And you should see Ron while he’s there. The range of music he plays is almost crazy, but it could be good for him.”

Mr. Weasley nodded slowly at the information from Charlie before he walked up to Ron and wrapped an arm around his shoulders and began walking into the evening air. Behind them, the sound of the door opening and closing could be heard.

“Why do you want to do this?” Mr. Weasley asked.

“To help,” was Ron’s immediate reply.

“I don’t think that’s it. You’ve never shown much interest or concern with the family’s finances before. So, what’s going on? Why do you want to do this? I know the money would be nice, but what’s the real reason?” Mr. Weasley’s voice held no censure. Mostly it was just curiosity. 

“I love music. There’s so much out there I’d never heard, and so much I hadn’t seen. I love being there. Even if Mr. Kemp didn’t want me to work, I would ask if I could go out every now and then to be there. And to see--” Ron immediately stopped himself after almost telling his father about Charlie’s secret.

“Oh, don’t worry. I know he goes in to see some muggle friends. He told me; otherwise your mother would have gone into that shop and dragged you home for dinner. Your mother knows, too. Though she’s not exactly pleased that she’s not in control of what you eat, she’s accepted it,” Mr. Weasley said with a small chuckle. 

They were at the edge of the garden now and began to walk along the edge of the tamed section, Mr. Weasley was asking a variety of questions mostly about “muggle devices.” As they were turning to go inside, they spotted something coming towards them from the Northeast. As it approached, it turned out to be an owl with a small note written with beautiful penmanship. The note simply stated, “Charlie, Eureka! - Pandora.”

Seeing the note and understanding what it meant, Ron immediately ran for the Burrow with the owl sitting on his father’s shoulder. Apparently, she would wait for a response.

“CHARLIE!” Ron hollered as he approached the door. “Charlie!” he called into the kitchen. His brother popped his head into the kitchen from the other end.

“Everything ok?” he asked

“Pandora figured it out!” Ron excitedly yelled.

“Mum, Dad? Do you mind if we head back? We’ll take Bill with us if it’ll make you feel better,” Charlie immediately asked.

“We can’t let Bill have all the fun. I’ll go with you; it’ll be a bit faster. We’ll Apparate straight to the property line and walk in.” Turning to the owl, Mr. Weasley smiled and said, “Race you there.” He received an oddly playful hoot in return before the owl launched itself from his shoulder back into the night sky.

The two younger Weasleys ran to the apparition point. Mr. Weasley followed them at a faster than normal pace, with even more bounce in his step than usual, “Charlie, you better get your broom, I’m not trying this with both of you.”

Shortly after they Apparated and began walking, an owl flew low over their heads, hooting joyously, Charlie hot on its tail.

“Welcome back, Birdie” came the voice of a young girl from the still lit house ahead of them, “but you know, since they beat you to the property line I think this round goes to the Weasleys. Mum, Charlie’s back!”

The door slammed open as Pandora Lovegood ran out excitedly, waving the boombox around. “Energy!” she shouted as she ran towards them.

The Weasley’s simply looked at each other, wondering if any of them had understood. Apparently, none had put it together.

“Electricity is just energy stored. The energy is stored within these devices!” She was clearly excited by the prospect as she was occasionally yelling to emphasize points, although why was beyond her audience. “Magic is another form of energy, so if we can store energy within a battery. I really was over-thinking this whole thing.”

She set the batteries on the ground in a line, pulled out her wand, and with a fairly simple wand movement incanted, “ _Industria Maxima_!”

She then added the batteries to the boom box, hit play, and The Who was again playing through the Rookery. “I had to modify the batteries a little by adding some runes to hold the charge longer. I can show you how. But in theory this means at least some muggle devices will be able to be brought into fully magical homes, and even brought to Hogwarts.”

Ron was thrilled--more music at home, and even when he went off to Hogwarts, he could bring music with him. Charlie, while excited, had instantly become more thoughtful as Pandora had continued.

“Mrs. Lovegood” he began before being interrupted by an oddly stern look from her. “Sorry, Pandora, how hard are these runes to make?”

“Fairly simple,” she answered quickly.

“And even if the batteries were dead it would still work, wouldn’t it? I mean, you’re not using electricity. It’s just the magical energy you’re adding, right?”

“True.” Pandora looked thoughtful. “As a matter of fact, a dead battery might be even better. No concerns of electric/magic crossovers or odd effects. I blew up one of the new batteries you gave me. Luckily it was a small explosion…” She trailed off.

“But it works. We can play all sorts of music at home; anything that runs on batteries,” Charlie said, looking at Ron with a crooked grin. “Gryffindor is going to have the best parties.” Everyone laughed at that comment. “And we might be able to make other muggle-borns feel more at home. Maybe make some money?”

“The problem is, these are easily recharged. We’d have to teach the spell with the batteries,” Xenophilius countered from the door of the house.

“Not really,” Ron chimed in. “Keep the spell yours and charge a knut to recharge any batteries? People could buy multiple sets so they wouldn’t have to go without. Or we sell the spell…” Ron trailed off as all eyes were on him.

“Those are reasonable options. How about I take this upcoming term at Hogwarts and see if there’s any market for this first. I figure it’ll be young people who are more interested, at least for now,” Charlie finished.

“Reasonable,” Pandora said. “Let’s see if there’s a market before we start worrying about taking the project any further. For now, in exchange for making this spell, could you bring me one of these?” she asked, holding up the boombox.

“I’m sure we can work something out,” Charlie said with a smile. “For now, you can borrow this one. I’m sure you guys have plenty more dancing to do, and I’m sure my mum isn’t ready for it to be in her house. If you’d like to stop by the shop tomorrow, I’d be happy to set you up with your own, and maybe help you pick out some more music?”

The eyes of all of the Lovegoods lit at that idea, and Xenophilius stated, “Wonderful. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Charlie immediately began to grow concerned. Pandora was fairly grounded, but bringing Luna and Xenophilius into the presence of his boss might lead to a more interesting interaction than he had been hoping for. In an effort to save himself, he added, “Great. Just remember, it’s a muggle shop.”

The Lovegoods all nodded and waved as the Weasleys turned to leave.

Mr. Weasley put an arm around each of his sons: “Well done boys. That was marvelous work.”

“We didn’t do anything,” Ron said. “Pandora did all the work.”

“True. I did even less. Ron came up with the idea of asking her,” Charlie continued.

“But you forget. You came up with the idea, you brought her the tools. and asked if it would be possible,” Mr. Weasley said, pride evident in his voice. “I don’t know how long those contraptions have been around, but no one has thought to even try until you two got together and brought in Pandora. If you two hadn’t thought it was possible, how long would it have taken for someone to get the idea?”

The Weasleys continued walking to the Apparition point at the edge of the Lovegoods’ property line and made it to the door of the Burrow without another word being spoken. They were all thinking about the events of the evening and Mr. Weasley’s comment. 

As they got to the door, Mr. Weasley grabbed both boys by the shoulder. “Boys, you’re working at the record shop tomorrow, right?”

They nodded.

“Good. The shop closes at what time?” Mr. Weasley asked.

“Seven o’clock,” Charlie answered quickly.

“I will stop by the shop tomorrow after dinner. I imagine I’ll be able to speak with Mr. Kemp for a few minutes about Ron’s situation?”

“That should be ok,” Charlie answered. “What about...?” he paused as he didn’t want to finish, but all three knew how the question ended with an unspoken: ‘Mum’.

“I’ll talk to her. She may come with, and that will be ok.” His voice became stern at that last phrase.

The boys nodded and entered the house, only to be greeted by a shout from the youngest Weasley, “They’re back!”

Upon entering the sitting room, all eyes were on them. After a pause that seemed to last a minute, the silence was broken.

“Well?” the twins almost shouted in unison.

“Did she solve it?” Bill asked.

“Yes!” Charlie shouted triumphantly as he grabbed Ron. “And it’s all thanks to this kid here! I never would have thought to bring in Pandora if he hadn’t brought her up.”

The children in the room all began shouting in celebration, which Ron didn’t fully understand. He and Charlie had never brought their music home, so what were they so excited about? 

“Well, where’s the stereo?” Bill asked. “Let’s hear some of this music you’ve been telling me about for the last year.”

“We left it with the Lovegoods as a thank you until they get their own. But we can play you some music without that if you’d like,” Ron answered.

The room looked at him curiously. “Kemp gave me some records, and we have the phonograph in Charlie’s room.”

“How do you know?” “Does it work?” “Why didn’t you tell us?” “You’ve been holding out on us.” The responses came at once and from all corners of the room.

“I’ll be right back,” Ron said, scrambling up the stairs.

Before he could even get the phonograph to the door of Charlie’s room, someone called from the landing. “Hold on there, son,” came his mother’s voice. “I can see it. Just let go,” she said as she levitated the phonograph down to her. As she headed for the stairs, she called over her shoulder, “Just get this crazy music you want to share.”

He opened the door to find Charlie looking through his meager collection. “What are you thinking?” His older brother asked.

“The Beatles?”

Charlie just nodded. “Should do, bring this too.” He handed _A Hard Days Night_ and _This Girl’s In Love With You_ to his younger brother.

Based on the recommendation, Ron decided to put on the Aretha Franklin album first. Maybe it was Charlie trying to get his mother’s approval first with something a little calmer, but Ron would never tire off that opening track. By the time the vinyl needed to be flipped, Ron noticed his parents in a corner holding each other, spinning slowly. After the first track of that side, their parents took an early leave, heading to bed. At that point Ron lifted the needle and dropped the Beatles on, and he and the rest of the Weasley kids began their own, more raucous, party.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own the characters or the wizarding world, that goes to JKR and the various publishing conglomerates
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6a0TA2Zo4lZ2bokNCwjhwT?si=QYNE87u3QIW5iwigEZkrFQ

The next day at the shop, Ron informed Kemp that Mr. Weasley would be coming by around seven that evening to speak with him. “Unless you think we’ll be too busy,” Ron finished, sounding a bit hopeful about the prospect.

“I think that’ll be fine,” Kemp responded with a smile.

“By the way, we may also be getting some other visitors, our neighbors. I’ve got a few tracks I’d like to play for them, although they are a bit... eccentric,” Charlie chimed in from the front of the store, “but they helped me on a project for school and I told them I’d give them a hand picking out some new music.”

Kemp had the idle thought, “ _Given your eccentric family, how odd must these neighbors be?_ " “Sounds like you’ll be working a bit later then,” he chose to say. “Since I know you normally sneak off to your girlfriend’s, and we’re pretty slow now, how about you guys sneak over there now. I have a feeling you’ll want to catch a ride home with your dad when he comes.”

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

“Good news, Ren!” Charlie called as he entered the now-familiar home with Ron in tow.

Ron dodged from behind his brother as the girl rocketed into Charlie’s open arms. Ron simply left the couple and went in search of Colin. 

“How’s it going, kid?” came Colin’s usual greeting.

“Oh, fine,” Ron said quietly.

“Whoa, what’s wrong with you?” 

“Our dad is meeting with Kemp this evening. I’m hoping it goes well. I don’t want to stop going or have Kemp laugh at my dad.” At a confused look from Colin, Ron continued, “My dad’s a bit odd. Mostly Charlie’s worried about getting embarrassed, but it makes me worry about my dad.”

“Kemp’s a good guy. You’ll be fine. Though don’t tell Karen, or she’ll try to meet your dad. You should hear her going on about how it’s so unfair that you guys come here all the time, and she’s never even met your parents. Hell, supposedly you have a ton of siblings, but you’re the only one he’s ever brought around.”

Ron’s heart swelled at that thought, and he felt warmth spreading from his chest in pride at the realization. Sure, he had known what Colin was saying was true, but he hadn’t really thought about it.

“So, what time are you expecting your dad to show up?” Colin asked.

Ron shot him a look with narrowed eyes. “Didn’t you just say I shouldn’t tell you?”

“I said not to tell my sister,” Colin said with a lopsided grin. “Why not tell me?”

“Because you’ll tell her,” Ron said, recognizing the glint in Colin’s eye from the twins. “Or show up yourself. Or both.”

Colin just laughed and shrugged. “It was worth a shot.”

Ron, however, was thinking about it. His parents didn’t have a problem with muggles. Why not have them meet? Things couldn’t go that poorly, right? “Around seven,” Ron said, laughing at how Colin’s eyes bugged out. “Come on, it’ll be fun, right?”

“I guess we’ll see,” Colin said with a smile before calling, “Hey, Karen, we’re making dinner tonight!”

They didn’t get a response, and Ron moved to put on a record Kemp had lent them for the trip. As he handed it over, he had said, “It’s a double LP. That should give him plenty of snogging and you some tunes to listen to.”

Ron and Colin pulled out their notebooks as the music began to play to take and compare notes.

“This is older. Where’d it come from?” Colin asked as the first song began to play.

“Kemp said it’s influenced a lot of artists. I figured it’d be worth seeing what inspired the Beatles and Dylan,” Ron answered as they settled in.

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

As Ron and Charlie left, Ron looked over his shoulder and caught a wink from Colin and smiled.

“I guess we should get back to the shop pretty quickly. Never know when the Lovegoods might show up. Lord only knows what Kemp would do if left to his own devices with them,” Charlie said as they continued their walk.

Ron nodded before asking the question that had been on his mind since he told Colin what time his father would be visiting the shop. “Why do you only bring me? And would you ever introduce Karen to Mum and Dad?”

Charlie stopped and looked at his brother, “Where’s this coming from?”

Ron shrugged: “Colin told me that Karen complains about not having met any of the rest of our family. I was just curious.”

“Alright,” Charlie started walking again, “well, I bring you because I had to, and once you were in on the secret, I figured I’d need to keep bringing you so you wouldn’t tell. Plus you didn’t cause much trouble. I mean, can you imagine the twins or Percy hanging out with Kemp or Karen and Colin?”

Ron laughed at the comment, but waited for his brother to finish answering his questions.

“I’m not sure if I’d ever bring Karen around. I mean, it wouldn’t really work to bring her home. There’s way too much magic there. And where would I bring Mum and Dad in the city?” Charlie continued, sounding frustrated. “Now I might be able to take them out for a decent meal, but I’m not so sure. I’m not really sure how it would go. I’ve been thinking about that lately, though. You don’t know, but Bill knows about Karen. I’ve been asking his advice a bit, and he basically asked me if I saw a future with her--but how am I supposed to know? We’re sixteen. I figured it’d just be good fun, but it’s hard to just have fun like this when we live in two different worlds without it being imbalanced. Either way, depending on how today goes I might ask Mum and Dad to let me take them to dinner with Karen on Saturday, maybe that pizza place?” Charlie seemed to end asking Ron a question.

“Maybe we should take everyone,” Ron answered quietly, earning him a questioning gaze from Charlie. “I’ll help pay, but I think it would be nice. Maybe we could make it a tradition--one last bout of muggle food before you go to Hogwarts?”

“That’s an interesting idea. I do miss pizza when I’m up there,” Charlie answered, “but I think the whole family would probably freak her out.”

“More than the Lovegoods would freak Kemp out?” Ron asked, trying to hold in a giggle.

“I’m not sure if anything could freak out a muggle more than that, but that’s why we’re not going to leave him alone with them.”

Ron thought about saying “too late,” but decided against it and simply pointed ahead as the Lovegoods were exiting the shop.

Charlie swore and began running ahead. Ron didn’t even try to keep up; he just laughed as he continued casually walking behind his brother.

By the time he got to the shop, it was just Xenophilius and Luna standing outside; Pandora was inside with Charlie.

“Did I miss anything fun?” Ron asked as he approached.

“Apparently I’m unfamiliar with the protocol in muggle shops.” Xenophilius seemed baffled. “Though I’m not sure exactly what I’ve done wrong…”

“I’m sure it’s not a big problem. How have you been Luna?” Ron directed the conversation to the wide-eyed girl. Though considering how big her eyes usually were he couldn’t tell if it was all that different from her usual state. 

“It’s amazing in there,” she said quietly, still stealing glances at the door and the poster covered windows.

Ron nodded: “It’s my favorite place.” Turning to the elder, and unsurprisingly the largest source of trouble, he continued, “Mr. Lovegood, would it be ok if Luna and I went in for a minute? Will you be alright out here?”

As he nodded Luna let out a gleeful sound, grabbing Ron and pulling him back in and as Pandora was getting some recommendations from Charlie. Ron shared some ideas with Luna, even buying her one that he thought she’d like. “He tells a lot of stories with his music. I think you’ll appreciate it.”

As the Lovegoods left both of the Weasleys turned a little nervously to Kemp, who seemed entirely flustered by whatever had happened. Ron couldn’t take the silence. “What did he do?”

Kemp seemed to shake himself from his own thoughts and just fixed Ron with a look. Losing no confusion he said, “I have no idea. Certainly an odd bloke. Why was he still in his bathrobe?”

“Like I said,” Charlie said trying to cover for them, “he’s a bit eccentric. But did he do anything?”

“Not really, he was talking about ley lines and magic and just being generally odd.” Kemp seemed to be losing some of his confusion and was favoring amusement now. “When I asked if they were looking for you, I told them you had stepped out but should be back shortly, but he kept trying to talk to me about… Is he into dungeons and dragons?”

Charlie seized on the explanation greedily. “Yeah, he’s a huge fan. And sometimes if he’s been playing a little too long, he forgets he isn’t his character. He’s a pretty strong wizard,” Charlie finished matter-of-factly, hoping the answer would suffice to answer for the man’s odd behavior. “Did you ask them to leave, though?”

“Not really, although both his wife and daughter seemed to realize he was coming on a bit strong and were pulling him for the door, trying to tell him to wait until you got back.” Kemp started to laugh at that thought. “Those two were really nice though. They’re welcome back anytime. Him, you better be around for that,” he said looking at the boys. “Anyway, let’s get this place looking a little more respectable for your parents, eh? Charlie we’ve got another lot for you to inventory. Ron, here’s the clipboard. Give your brother a hand with that after you put on the next record. I’ll get my head right after those neighbors of yours and take care of any customers.”

The day was fairly uneventful from then on. Ron chose the music, as usual running the gamut, starting out with wilder things including some Beastie Boys, the Clash, and eventually ranging out to some early Tom Waits and Aretha Franklin. As the time for their father arrived, he seemed to be going more and more traditional, and around six forty-five he chose an old big band album from the Fifties, The Atomic Mr. Basie. 

Right at seven, in the midst of a minor rush, the bell above the door chimed and the red hair of a Weasley entered. Ron and Charlie were both stunned to see that it wasn’t their father, but Bill who had entered. He was staring around at the shop in apparent wonder. Next in were the twins. At this, Ron and Charlies hearts fell into their shoes, and Charlie immediately made a beeline for them while Ron went over to the back and called Mr. Kemp. “Looks like my family’s here.”

“Your family?” Kemp asked, sounding bewildered. “Not just your father?”

“I haven’t even seen him come in, but three of my other brothers are here. I assume my dad will be in shortly,” Ron answered as he turned back to the store with Kemp.

“Wow,” Kemp said as he smiled, looking out at the store, “a lot more red hair in here than normal.” 

Ron nodded as he saw his father working his way to the counter. “Hi dad!” He went over to his father with Kemp in tow. “Mr. Kemp, this is my dad. Dad, this is Mr. Kemp,” Ron introduced as the two men shook hands.

“Mr. Kemp, it’s great to meet you. I appreciate what you’ve done for my boys,” Mr. Weasley said as genially as ever.

“Mr. Weasley,” Kemp said with a smile, “I appreciate you letting your youngest son come in. It’s been great having him around, also, call me Kemp, please.”

“I’m going to go to the counter. I think Charlie will be better at corralling the twins,” Ron said, not really sure what his next step should be, before he turned he called “Bill!” before waving his brother over to him as he moved to the counter.

“What is going on?” Ron asked when Bill got to the counter.

“What do you mean?” Bill asked, confused.

“Dad said he would come talk to Mr. Kemp. Now you and the twins are here, and--” Ron paused as he looked back to Kemp and his dad. “Is that Mum?!”

“He didn’t say why he was coming, and the twins and Ginny have been begging to visit you guys at work basically since your first day gone. I guess Dad and Mum figured it’d be as good of a time as any, when there would be more eyes around to keep the twins in check.”

“Wait, Ginny’s here?” Ron hadn’t noticed her.

“I think she’s staying pretty close to the twins, either to help keep hold of them or to not miss out on any pranks,” Bill answered. “Or to just make sure she’s not the target of the pranks.”

Ron groaned. “I didn’t realize you all were going to be here, I told… Oh no!” Ron yelled as he saw a familiar and very colorful head walk through the door.

“Charlie!” she called as soon as she got in and then paused at how full the shop was and how disproportionately ginger the crowd was. Even from where Ron was, he saw Charlie pale at the sound.

“Bill, go get the twins, and Ginny I suppose. Charlie’s going to be preoccupied for a bit, and I don’t want them getting into any trouble,” Ron said quickly.

The comment got a confused and interested look from Bill, but the eldest son of the Weasley family could see how distraught both of his younger brothers were and went to fetch the twins and Ginny.

Ron shot an apologetic look to Charlie, although he was sure his brother was too panicked to notice. But the tension in his face lessened substantially as Bill arrived to take care of the younger Weasleys and let Charlie get a moment.

Unfortunately, the call had clearly been heard by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who were looking interestedly at Karen.

Once freed of his familial charges, Charlie made a beeline for the door and Karen. The few casual shoppers didn’t seem to notice the tension and continued browsing. One regular was ready to check out and approached Ron at the counter.

“Hello, Mr. Williams,” Ron said as cheerily as he could through his distraction.

“Hello Ron, crowded place tonight, eh?” the older man responded. “A lot of gingers too.”

Ron nodded, trying to focus on the transaction and the money the man had given given him. He absently said, “Yeah, my dad wanted to see the shop, and he brought most of the family.” Gesturing to his side, Ron continued, “Those are my older brothers Bill, Fred, and George, and my younger sister, Ginny,” Ron said, counting the money out and getting the change.

As Mr. Williams turned to greet Ron’s family briefly, Ron double and triple-checked his work with the ten-key and again counted the money to himself before counting it out loud to Mr. Williams.

“Thanks for coming. We’ll see you soon!” Ron tried to emulate Charlie’s usual closing. Williams nodded before turning away, though he didn’t head for the door. Instead, he headed for the older triad of Kemp and the Weasley parents. Ron’s heart rose into his throat, but after a quick conversation and a few glances from his parents and Kemp towards the counter, he watched as Mr. Williams left.

Shortly after that, Colin walked up. “I must have missed you coming in,” Ron said happily.

“Hey, kid. Yeah, I snuck in when Charlie charged out with Karen,” Colin said. “Looks like things are a bit hectic; no surprise you missed me.”

“Yeah, my dad brought a few of my siblings and our mum with him. Is Karen ok?”

“Should be. Charlie’s out there after all. Are these your brothers?”

“Oh, yeah.” After a brief round of introductions, Bill began speaking with Colin as Ron was pulled to answer a question from a customer. Unbeknownst to him, his parents had completed their conversation with Kemp, and all three were watching him.

Ron completed two more transactions and answered a few more questions before Kemp came back to the counter.

“Nice work, Ron,” he said. “I didn’t realize you knew how to use the ten-key.”

“Charlie’s been teaching me, just in case,” Ron answered. “I triple checked the change each time; I didn’t want to interrupt you, and Charlie is…” Ron trailed off.

“Yeah, I guess he didn’t tell your parents about Karen?” Ron shook his head, and Kemp continued, “It’s fine either way; you did great. Williams even stopped by to compliment me on training someone so young and gave his regards to your parents,” Kemp finished with a smile.

Ron was surprised and pleased, but he didn’t really know what to say to that.

“I take it these are your siblings?” Kemp asked.

“Yeah, that’s Bill, Fred, George, and Ginny” Ron answered.

“Actually, I’m Fred.”

“And I’m George.” The twins tried to correct their brother.

“They’re lying,” Bill said, holding out his hand to Kemp.“Ron had it right. Thank you for letting us visit your shop. It’s amazing in here.”

Colin and Kemp seemed to not know how to respond to that, though Kemp shook the proffered hand.

“Anyway, it looks like it’s calming down in here. I can handle the shop for the night, I think you should probably go check on Charlie and head home, don’t you think,” Kemp said.

Ron nodded and began following the trail of Weasleys toward the door before he turned back to Colin. “You coming?”

“Should I?” Colin asked warily.

Ron shrugged, “Why not?”

Colin smiled lopsidedly and raised his eyebrows. “A lot, but why not see what happens?”

After they left the shop, they found Karen and Charlie at the tail end of a somewhat heated exchange with the Weasley parents. However, as Ron approached, he realized that the heated aspect of the exchange was mostly coming from his mother.

“And why haven’t you ever told us?” Mrs. Weasley nearly shouted.

Charlie answered as calmly as he could, doing an admirable job of managing a Prewett temper every bit as fierce as his mother’s, “Because I thought you might react like this.”

Ron and Colin walked to stand on either side of the young couple, offering what support they could. Seeing that, and seeing the rest of her children outside, Mrs. Weasley tried to calm down, giving Charlie the opening he had been looking for.

“Bill, Fred, George, Ginny, Mum, and Dad,” he said, apparently trying to start over entirely, “this is my girlfriend, Karen,” he said, pulling her a little closer to his side. “Karen, this is my family.”

“Don’t forget Percy,” came the comment from Bill.

“Can’t we though?” the twins asked together, releasing some of the tension that had built up.

“I was hoping to introduce you all this Saturday before I go to school next week,” Charlie continued, “but someone must have told her you were coming tonight.” At this everyone looked to Ron, who looked thoroughly abashed. “And since she’s been wanting to meet you all summer, she decided to surprise me. Plus I hadn’t told her about my plan for Saturday.”

Mr. Weasley gave his second son a knowing look at that comment. However, the break in Mrs. Weasley’s rant had offered him an opening and he took it, stepping forward and reaching his hand to the young muggle woman: “It’s wonderful to meet you.” After she shook his hand and offered him a warm smile, he continued, “both of you.” He reached to Colin next.

“It’s wonderful to finally meet you too, Mr. Weasley.” Karen continued her smile and took a half step towards the rest of the family.

“And all of the rest of you,” Colin echoed the sentiment

At that, the Weasley sons stepped forward and shook the hands of both of them. Ginny, however, stayed close to her mother. After greeting all of the young boys, Karen lowered herself to Ginny’s level and tentatively said, “Hi Ginny, I’m Karen.”

Looking first up to her mother who nodded, Ginny slowly approached as if Karen might be a hippogriff. “Hi,” she said in a small voice.

Karen reached out her hand, and Ginny slowly grabbed it before asking, “What happened to your hair?”

“Ginny?!” The name came as a hiss from both Charlie and her mother.

Karen just smiled. “I like lots of colors, so I made my hair lots of colors. Do you like it?” she asked, flopping her head forward revealing all of the colors in her hair.

Ginny reached out, running her hand through her hair, giggling. “Yeah. It’s pretty.”

Karen looked back up. “Thank you, I like it too.”

As Karen stood back up, she stepped to Charlie’s side. “Your family is pretty great,” she whispered just loud enough for Ron to hear.

At a small nudge from Mr. Weasley, his wife stepped forward. “I’m sorry for my reaction, dear. I didn’t expect my son to keep such a large secret from us. We knew he had some m--” She paused for a moment after almost saying “muggle” before she continued, “friends in town, but we didn’t know he had a girlfriend,” she said, giving Charlie a sharp look. “Which might explain why he had such a different schedule from what Mr. Kemp told us.”

Charlie found something fascinating in his shoes at being caught, and Ron noticed a smirk on Colin’s face.

“This is Colin, by the way, Karen’s brother and our friend,” Ron spoke out loudly, causing Colin to jolt a bit at being called out. Although he quickly shook himself and nodded at those whose hands he had already shaken. 

At that, Mr. Weasley took charge of the situation. “Alright, we should be getting home,” he stated, “but if you’d be interested in dinner on Saturday, that would be wonderful.”

Karen beamed at the offer and nodded.

Mr. Weasley nodded back: “Good. We’ll have a family talk tonight, and I’m sure Charlie and Ron can fill you in tomorrow exactly when and where,” to which Charlie and Ron nodded. “Good. Boys, we’ll see you home soon,” he finished before herding the rest of the family away.

Colin and Karen both looked confused. “They aren’t giving you a ride?” Colin asked.

“I guess not. Might be part of the punishment for not telling them about Karen. And lying about my schedule,” Charlie said, wrapping both arms around Karen and whispering something into her ear.

“Seems rough. Don’t you live a ways out of town?” Colin said.

“Yup,” Charlie answered simply. “Do you guys mind? I’d like to talk to Karen alone for a minute.”

“Sure. Colin, come back to the shop for a second. I’ve got an album I think you’d be interested in checking out,” Ron said, walking the few storefronts back to the shop.

After a few steps Colin said, “Interesting family you’ve got.” Ron simply nodded in response. “You’ve got another brother who didn’t come?”

“Percy,” Ron nodded. “He’s probably reading school books since they leave next week. Don’t worry, you didn’t miss much; he’s not very much fun.”

“Hm. And Charlie didn’t tell your family about Karen?”

“Guess not,” Ron said, “though I just found out he told Mum and Dad about the friends we have here in town. I know he told Bill about Karen. Apparently he’s been asking for his advice about… relationships?”

“You don’t actually have an album to show me, do you?” Colin stated as they had stopped outside the shop.

“Actually, I do,” Ron said pulling the door open and heading for the new releases. “It came out last week, but we just got our copies in,” he said, pulling an album out. “New album from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.”

“Interesting. Have you listened to it?”

“Yeah, but only once. I’m still not sure how much I like it. Definitely more polished than the previous albums. The closing track is probably my favorite, but I want to give it a few more listens,” Ron answered. “Sorry, but I want to go check with Mr. Kemp about something, and then Charlie and I should probably start heading home.”

Colin paused. “Do you guys want a ride home?”

Ron stopped turning away for a second. “I think we’re good for tonight, thanks,” he said before he continued to Kemp.

After a brief conversation where Kemp solidly refused to give him any information on how the conversation with his parents went, he headed back for his brother who was now standing alone.

“You told Colin when Mum and Dad were going to be there tonight.” Charlie accused quietly.

“I’m sorry.” Ron said by way of confirmation, “I didn’t think it would be a big deal.”

Charlie sighed heavily. “Well, you were wrong. Someday…” Charlie said heavily, “someday you’ll understand.” The brothers started walking to the clearing at the edge of town to make their way home.

As they mounted their brooms in the shadows, Charlie reached out and put his hand on Ron’s shoulder. “Thanks.”

Ron didn’t respond until they were in the sky. “What for? I thought I messed up.”

“You did, but I’m not sure if I would have done anything otherwise,” Charlie answered, voice still heavy, “and that wouldn’t have been fair. Making you keep my secrets and leaving Karen and our parents out of important parts of my life. That said, don’t do it again.”

The rest of the trip passed in silence. Nothing was said as they put the brooms away or on the walk to the house. As they opened the back door into the kitchen, they were confronted by their parents sitting at the kitchen table.

“Hey, Mum.” Charlie said quietly.

“Ron, Give us a few minutes with your brother,” Mr. Weasley said.

Upon entering the sitting room, he was greeted by, “Charlie has a girlfriend?!” which burst from Ginny.

“I guess,” Ron said, enjoying the attention, but wary of messing up again and revealing too much.

“For how long?” George asked.

“I don’t know.” Ron answered truthfully.

“But, you’ve met her before,” Fred accused.

“Sure.”

“So, why didn’t you tell us?” Fred continued, getting more frustrated.

“Charlie asked me not to,” Ron answered.

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“But she’s a muggle, right?” George asked.

“Seems like it.” Fred answered scornfully. “What kind of question is that?” 

Luckily, this set off a verbal skirmish between the twins, and Ron moved to the couch next to Bill.

“How long have you known?” Ron asked Bill.

“He told me before we came back home. He wasn’t sure if they’d still be a couple after so long, but he wanted to be prepared either way, apparently. Pretty smart actually,” Bill mused. “I remember finding it odd when we were leaving for Hogwarts after each break. I asked then, but I guess he wasn’t ready to tell me. Although he did tell me about his group of muggle friends as an explanation.”

Ron nodded, thinking how difficult that would be. “Especially without letters, that seems like it’d be hard to not see friends most of the year.”

He and Bill lapsed into comfortable silence, watching what had turned into a small duel of punches and smacks between the twins.

“Ron,” came his mother's voice from the door, “can you come in here, please?”

Ron dutifully, if warily rose and walked to the kitchen. Yes, his mother seemed calm, but that wasn’t necessarily a good sign. He walked past her into the kitchen and took a seat next to Charlie. Silence seemed the best option right now. Internally a war between curiosity and fear raged, although the latter had the battle well in hand.

“First, we’d like to talk about the secrets you’ve been keeping,” Mrs. Weasley began. “We’ve spoken with Charlie, but we’d like to hear your side.”

“My side of what?” Ron asked, confused.

“All of the secrets,” Mrs. Weasley stated. “Muggle friends, muggle girlfriend, lying about your work scheduled,” she continued.

“I don’t have a girlfriend. Charlie does. I didn’t know the schedule; I just went with Charlie. You never asked me about the schedule, either,” Ron said.

“And when did you meet these muggles?”

“When you took Percy, Ginny, and the twins to Diagon Alley,” Ron answered.

“No other secrets?” his father asked

“I don’t think so.” Ron answered, thinking back. “We ate dinner with Karen and Colin’s family sometimes. Oh, and I got to watch Star Wars,” Ron continued excitedly.

Mr. Weasly looked amused by the excitement with a distinct twinkle in his eye. However, the amusement didn’t extend past his eyes. 

Charlie, on the other hand, did react, “See mum! I told you there wasn’t anything else. I just didn’t tell you about Karen.” He sounded both vindicated and angry.

“Son,” Mr. Weasley said calmly without any anger, but plenty of censure in his voice, “you have to understand why we’re asking this. You kept things from us, almost a second life. You only told us about your friends when it was convenient, and you only told us about your girlfriend when you were caught.

Charlie looked at the table, ashamed by his outburst. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok. Your decision, while not right, was understandable,” Mr. Weasley said, “but now we have to have a conversation.

Charlie nodded mutely, while Ron answered, “Yes, sir.”

“So, Charlie, you have your first girlfriend. Tell us about her.”

Haltingly and awkwardly at first, but with growing excitement, Charlie extolled the wonderful things about his girlfriend. Once Charlie started to wind down, Ron chimed in with his own, fairly simple opinion: “She’s really nice,” causing six eyes to snap to him. “When I first met her, she talked to me and asked my opinion about music when most of the people there just ignored me. I like her.”

Mr. Weasly nodded. “And she went out of her way to greet all of us, including Ginny. But Charlie, how does she feel about you hiding her from us?” 

Charlie’s bright smile faded. “She wasn’t happy. I think I explained it enough that she isn’t still mad at me. She said your reaction was mostly my fault though. That if I had told you earlier, then you wouldn’t have been so upset.”

“She’s right,” Mrs. Weasley answered, appearing to grow at least accepting, if not fond of Karen.

“I know that now. I’m sorry. Would you be open to dinner with her on Saturday?” Charlie asked hopefully.

“Of course. We’d love to meet her family, too, although that may be difficult with such short notice,” Mrs. Weasley answered instantly. “She seems like a lovely girl. Although, that hair,” she finished, almost shuddering.

Charlie had smiled at the immediate answer, though he rolled his eyes at her ending. “That’s great, I was thinking I could take the family out to dinner with her at the pizza place in town.”

Mrs. Weasley looked scandalized at the very thought. “Of course not. That won’t do, I can make dinner.”

“But mum,” Charlie said hesitantly, “she’s a muggle. She’ll figure out something as soon as she sees the house, let alone having her inside for dinner.”

“Son, don’t worry about it. Your mother and I will talk about what to do, and we’ll let you know what we’d like to do before you go to work tomorrow,” Mr. Weasley interrupted. “Go on.”

As the boys got up, Mr. Weasley asked Ron to stay. “Thank you,” Mr. Weasley said, “I know that must not have been easy, but I appreciate your decision to try to get Karen to meet us.”

“You’re welcome Dad,” Ron said, “but I didn’t do it for you.”

His parents looked confused. “Why then?”

Ron shrugged. “Karen wanted to meet you. It wasn’t fair that we’d met her parents, and she hadn’t met you.”

When Ron left the kitchen he found Charlie was now being interrogated by the rest of the siblings, so Ron headed straight for the stairs and bed, though he didn’t sleep well. He was anxious to hear his parents’ decision the next morning.

Ron woke early the next morning and began his normal routine, heading down to complete his chores. Today, though, he was joined by his father who met him in the kitchen.

“I’m surprised you didn’t ask about your future at the shop,” Mr. Weasly said as they made their way to the coop.

Ron stopped dead in his tracks. “I was so focused on everything else that I forgot to ask last night.”

Mr. Weasley chuckled at the reaction. “I take it you still want to go?” When Ron nodded vigorously, his father continued, “Ok. But you won’t be able to go by yourself, so you won’t get to go as often.”

Ron was a little crestfallen. Sure he was young, but he didn’t see any issues. He’d been flying to town every day.

His father interrupted his thoughts. “After talking with Mr. Kemp, we think one day a week will be enough. I’ll take a brief break from work to apparate you there. When Charlie is home from Hogwarts, you can talk to Mr. Kemp about going more often. However, we need to talk about the money. It won’t be a lot, but I don’t want you spending it all on music, so half will go into a savings account we’ll open for you at Gringotts.”

Ron wasn’t exactly happy, but dutifully said, “Yes, sir.”

“Additionally, if you’re keeping up with your chores and lessons, your mother and I have agreed that you can visit your muggle friends once or twice per week.”

Ron brightened considerably. “Thanks, Dad!” he said, throwing himself around his father's waist in a hug. After a few seconds, Ron pulled back. “Dad?”

“Yes, son?”

“What are we doing Saturday for dinner?”

Mr. Weasley chuckled a little before asking, “What do you think we should do?

Ron stopped and looked at his dad. “Charlie wanted to go out for pizza with everyone.”

“Yes, but as most of us haven’t had pizza don’t you think that might lead to some problems?” 

“Ok. Mum wants to make dinner, but they can’t see magic,” Ron reasoned. He had been thinking about it most of the night, so he already had his idea. “But if you want to invite her family over, they probably won’t fit in the house anyway. Set up the marquee and eat dinner outside?”

“Well done son. That’s what we’re hoping to do. We’ll be having a conversation with Charlie when he gets back in from his morning chores.”

Charlie, when he showed up, was not convinced by the plan.

“Dad, the house?”

“Yes, it’s lovely, isn’t it?”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Charlie countered. “How many different charms are there on the house to keep it up? It doesn’t exactly look stable by muggle standards.”

“It’s perfectly stable. It may be unorthodox, but there’s hardly any magic to the house at all. A bit more has been added lately, but that’s just because of the twins. With all the explosions coming from their room already, I figured it was better to be safe than sorry,” Mr. Weasley finished with a chuckle.

“Ok, fine, but how’s she going to get here?”

“How would she get anywhere she doesn’t walk to? I’m assuming her parents have a car. And if they aren’t available, I know a few muggleborns who have kept one foot in their own world. Ted Tonks has a beautiful blue Ford Anglia that--” Mr. Weasley was interrupted before Charlie cut him off.

“The Tonkses? Are you crazy?!” Charlie exploded. “Tonks can’t keep her appearance the same for more than a minute at a time!”

“I didn’t say they’d be coming. Ted’s taught me how to drive. I’m sure I could borrow the car and pick Karen and Colin up.”

“And Colin?” Ron chimed in.

“Certainly, if he doesn’t have plans. But I’d prefer if their parents could drive them. I know it’s short notice being Friday, and probably evening by the time you ask, but I think it would be good to meet them.”

“But...” Charlie trailed off. Clearly. he wasn’t happy about the idea, but he didn’t have any good objections. “I guess I’ll talk to them today and see if they’re interested.” As he was walking back to the house, Charlie stopped and turned, following Ron up to the house to get cleaned up, “If they’re going to drive they’ll need our address.”

“That’s true,” Mr. Weasley said.

“What is it? I have no idea what our address is.” Charlie said, seemingly dumbstruck by the very thought.

Ron hadn’t considered that either, but he was called into the Burrow by his mother before he could hear the answer.

“Ron, make sure your brother asks. Not just Karen, but her parents as well,” Mrs. Weasley said. “It’s only proper that we meet the girl’s family.”

“I will, Mum,” Ron said, before quickly heading to take a shower and change.

On the flight into town Ron asked Charlie, “Why don’t you want Karen to visit our house?”

Charlie scoffed at the question. “I love our home. But it’s not exactly…normal. It’s a little shabby, and I’m worried what she’ll think. And I’m worried about what her family will think.”

“She’s nice,” Ron said. “I don’t think she’ll be mean about it. It’s home. Plus, Mum is a better cook than her mum and dad.”

“That’s true. The only downside of eating dinner at her house,” Charlie said with a smile. “Let’s get to work. We can talk about this later.”

Work went well and was slow for most of the day, although for the first time Kemp left Charlie and Ron alone while he ran to pick up a new lot. After work, the boys headed over to Karen’s house. Charlies’ nervousness, which had risen throughout the day, seemed to grow with each passing step.

Ron stood next to his brother in case the colorful rocket known as Karen decided she wanted a snog. However, when Karen opened the door, the greeting was downright cold. As Charlie told her about the plan for Saturday she brightened and became her usually bubbly self.

“My whole family?” She asked, both excited and a little nervous.

“Yeah, that’s what my parents want to do. The house is pretty small, but we have a marquee, and the weather is supposed to be nice and warm,” Charlie said, clearly trying to sound more excited than he truly was.

“That actually sounds really nice, but isn’t that a lot of people?”

“Your family is only five people?” It was a statement phrased as a question by the confused Charlie. Ron was equally confused.

“Yeah, but your family is nine, right?” Karen asked. When the boys nodded she continued, “That’s fourteen people. That’s basically a feast. I feel bad asking your mum to cook for that many at the last minute.” she was beginning to sound upset.

“She wants to,” Ron chimed in. “Charlie offered to take the whole family out for dinner. But Mum loves to cook. You should see the holidays when we have the whole family over.”

“You’re sure?” Karen asked

Ron nodded while Charlie said, “Honestly, I’m more than a little nervous.”

That earned an eye roll from Karen as she turned into the house: “Let’s ask, then.” Entering the sitting room, they found the rest of the family.

“Do you have plans tomorrow?” Karen asked broadly.

“Beth has a sleepover, and I think your father was going to meet some of his co-workers for dinner. Why?” Mrs. Blakemore asked, not looking up from her book.

“Charlie's mum and dad have invited the whole family over for dinner, not just me,” Karen practically burst.

After a pause that seemed entirely too long for the Weasley brothers, Mr. Blakemore spoke up, “A bit last minute, don’t you think?”

“That’s Charlie’s fault,” Ron chimed in helpfully, earning a glare from his brother.

After all eyes had turned to Charlie he slowly started. “I hadn’t told my parents about Karen.” He said, mostly to his feet.

“And why not? Are you ashamed of her?” Mr. Blakemore asked, clearly his temper rising quickly.

“It’s not that at all!” Charlie exclaimed, equally offended by his comment. “It’s just…our parents are very old-fashioned. They found out last night, and my mother already brought up marriage once she backed down from trying to flay me alive. I’m pretty sure the only reason I’m not grounded is because my parents would like to meet Karen more formally, and all of you, if you’re available.”

At the word “marriage,” all of the Blakemores paled a little, but by the end of Charlie’s statement, the anger was mostly replaced with understanding and a bit of frustration.

“Can I come?” Beth asked. “I see my friends enough.”

“We’ll see, sweetie,” Mrs. Blakemore said. “It’s awfully short notice to ask your mother to cook for all of us.”

“Apparently she insisted.” Karen said happily.

“Really?” Mrs. Blakemore asked, looking at the boys, who both nodded in response.

“I think we need to have a family discussion,” Mr. Blakemore said, “Will you boys be staying for dinner?”

“We weren’t planning on it, sir. If you do decide to come, I’m sure my mother will have a list of chores that we’ll need to be helping with,” Charlie said, “but we can wait for a bit if you want to talk about it.”

“I think that would be good. Just a few minutes, boys,” he said.

As they were leaving the room for the shed, Ron turned and said, “Our dad offered to pick up Karen and Colin if you weren’t available, and Beth too, obviously. He said he’d understand if it’s too last-minute.”

“Mum, Dad,” Karen started, “I was planning to go out for dinner with them already, so I don’t need to be here for the discussion. I’ll go with them to the shed if that’s alright.”

Her father nodded, and they left the room.

Once in the shed, Karen gave an abbreviated version of their traditional greeting before they all sat down and anxiously awaited the decision of Karen’s parents. Karen decided to start asking questions about the family, but before they could get five questions in, the door opened, and Mr. Blakemore asked Charlie to step outside for a moment.

Charlie blanched, but dutifully followed him while Ron and Karen shared a worried look.

“Is that normal?” Ron asked

Karen shrugged. “I have no idea.” She paused for a bit before asking, “Does Charlie talk about me?”

Ron nodded.

“A lot?”

“With me, sure. I guess probably with Bill sometimes too. He was really worried about what our parents would say, so he didn’t tell anyone else. You should have heard him when my parents asked him to tell them about you. He wouldn’t shut up for a minute or two, just kept talking about how great you were,” Ron answered.

Karen’s smile was wide enough that Ron was sure it had to hurt.

Before Karen could keep getting information from her naive source, the door opened and Charlie came in with Mr. and Mrs. Blakemore in tow.

“We’re going to go,” Mrs. Blakemore said smiling, “but it’s just going to be the three of us. We don’t want to impose.”

“It wouldn’t be an imposition, honest,” Ron said, trying to be helpful.

“You can say that dear, but cooking for five people is a little much.” Mrs. Blakemore smiled at him.

“But -,” Ron started again before getting cut off.

“Ron,” Charlie said with a bit of warning.

“Right,” Mr. Blakemore continued, “Charlie has given us the address along with some peculiar directions. Apparently it’s advisable to wear comfortable shoes.”

Karen pouted a bit. “But I want to dress up to impress his parents.”

“Ren, they’ve already met you, and they like you better than they like me already. You don’t have to dress up. Plus, it’s a dirt path. It would be pretty difficult to handle that in heels,” Charlie said with a smile.

“But it sounds like you boys need to get home and start on the chores, and we’re going to have a talk with Karen before we start on dinner, so we’ll see you boys tomorrow.”

“If you want, I can come over after work and ride along with you. My dad can pick up Ron from the shop,” Charlie said before they left.

“That sounds great, Charlie!” Karen responded enthusiastically.

“That would probably be a good idea. Some of those country lanes can be pretty small and easy to miss,” Mrs. Blakemore agreed, looking to her husband, who simply nodded.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, around three or four,” Charlie called over his shoulder on the way out.

As the boys made their way home somehow Charlie seemed more nervous, but also more excited than he had the rest of the day. Ron couldn’t quite figure out why, but also didn’t want to risk the good mood of his companion. So the walk and later flight were completed in a comfortable silence. That silence, however, didn’t last long once they got home.

“They don’t want to bring the whole family because it’s too much of an imposition?!” Mrs. Weasley fairly exploded. “Silly muggles, I’ll go and talk to them now.”

She was three steps closer to the door before Mr. Weasley could stop her. “Dear, that’s not appropriate. If they’d like it to be a smaller affair that’s fine. Boys, you’ll need to start the yardwork tonight. First, just make sure you get anything that looks like it could be magical in the broom shed. We’re also going to need a lock for that, just in case.”

Charlie and Ron nodded and headed out the door, leaving their parents to plan for tomorrow's dinner.

It was only thirty minutes later when Mr. Weasley called Charlie up to the house: “Get cleaned up and come back down. Ron, you can be done for now too.”

As it turned out, Mrs. Weasley wanted to stop by the Blakemores and reassure them that bringing Colin and Beth wouldn’t be a burden. Mr. Weasley had convinced her to allow him to go, insisting that brow-beating them wouldn’t be a wise first impression. He also made the odd comment that he and Charlie wouldn’t be home for dinner.

As Ron suddenly had the evening with nothing required of him, he snuck into Charlie’s room and borrowed some of his records and brought them to his room, starting to lay them out in different orders, trying to plan the playlist for dinner the next day. He also had a record playing, which is probably why he missed the calls from his mother, bringing her to his room.

“Ron, what are you doing up here?” she asked as she opened the door.

“Getting ready for tomorrow,” Ron said. “I’m picking records to play before and after dinner.”

“Don’t be silly, we’ll be visiting before and after dinner.”

“But Mum, they always listen to music after dinner.”

“I’m sorry Ron, no,” Mrs. Weasley said with a note of finality. “Now, come downstairs. Dinner’s ready.”

The evening went by fairly quietly and Ron was sent to bed before Charlie and his father returned.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own the characters or the wizarding world, that goes to JKR and the various publishing conglomerates.
> 
> Really quick apology for the delay (if there's anyone who was waiting for the next chapter) work has been absolutely hell lately.
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4j3SJoQP4E9JVCe4CiehTI?si=6yBejTepT6y1Wdh6u5AGsQ

The next morning, Ron started heading out to the coop to start his chores, but found that the coop was already mucked out and the eggs collected.

Charlie came around the corner of the house and spotted him: “My punishment is to take care of all the outside chores and finish cleaning up the yard for tonight. Including de-gnoming so dad can set up a temporary ward against the little buggers. Plus working at the shop. It’s going to be a long day.”

“Worth it though, right?” Ron asked.

“We’ll see, if it goes as well as last night, then yes. But we’ll see…” Charlie trailed off.

“What happened last night?”

“Not now Ron, I’ve got to get this done and get cleaned up before we head into town.”

“Ok. What else do you need to do before we leave?”

“I’m nearly done with anything you could help with.” Charlie said, starting to sound a little exasperated, “Just head in and get ready so when I’m done we can leave, alright?”

Ron turned and went back to the house and found his father in the sitting area looking rather tired.

“Good morning, Dad.” Ron said, climbing onto the sofa to face his father.

“Morning, son.” Mr. Weasley smiled, “How are you?”

Ron shrugged, “Good, I guess. Excited for tonight.” Mr. Weasley smiled at that, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back, apparently happy with the interaction, but Ron wasn’t.

“How are you?” Ron asked, causing his father to sit upright.

“I’m quite well, I suppose.” Mr. Weasley answered, curious at his son’s question.

“How did last night go with the Blakemores? Charlie wouldn’t tell me anything.” 

His father's face looked a little troubled. “Not as well as I would have liked, but the rest of the evening was quite nice.” At a questioning look from Ron, Mr. Weasley elaborated, “Apparently it wasn’t just the imposition, Colin asked not to come - apparently he thought it would be better for a smaller affair, though how one person is going to change that is beyond me. And Beth had plans, so no more people will be coming. Charlie and I made plans to meet Mr. Blakemore briefly at a pub in town, and that went well. He seemed much more at ease after speaking with me for a bit. Probably on edge about the whole thing because we live so differently from them.”

“But, they can’t know about--” Ron was immediately cut off.

“We live in the country, on a dirt road, and away from people, and he can tell how sheltered you boys are from the muggle world. He assumes that is all there is. But after talking he seemed more at ease. That’s all,” Mr. Weasley said, allowing Ron to lapse into a thoughtful silence.

“Good morning,” Mrs. Weasley said as she came down the stairs.

“Morning, Mum. Do you need help with breakfast?” Ron called, causing his mother to falter.

“Why?” she asked, completely befuddled.

Ron shrugged, “Charlie did all my chores this morning, and he’s still out there.”

“Right. But why do you want to help me? In the kitchen?” She asked, still confused.

Ron just shrugged again.

Mrs. Weasley looked at Mr. Weasley, who also just shrugged.

“Alright then, come on,” she said, heading into the kitchen.

Ron didn’t think he was all that helpful, but he tried. As a matter of fact, he seemed to be more in the way than helpful, but his mother seemed to appreciate it either way. After breakfast, he and Charlie headed to work.

“So, last night went well?” Ron asked as they flew.

“Yeah, Mr. Blakemore came out with Dad and I, we talked for a bit. They had… a few beers?” Charlie laughed a bit, “I think Dad might have gotten a little drunk, probably why he was so tired this morning.”

Ron was startled, although it did explain his father's behavior. “So you’re less nervous about tonight? He seemed to be the one who was the most upset.”

“True, but I don’t think I’ll stop being nervous, not with the twins and Ginny around. Mostly the twins,” Charlie answered. “Nothing for it but to see how it goes, right?”

Ron shrugged and nodded. “Right.”

As Ron and Charlie were walking up the street to the shop, Ron started the conversation up again: “Mum doesn’t want music tonight--either before or after dinner.” His voice was indignant.

“Didn’t you tell her that’s what the Blakemores do?” 

“She said we’d be busy talking and wouldn’t want to listen to music.” Ron shrugged as they entered the shop. “Said I was being silly.” 

“What sort of playlist did you have together?” 

Ron rattled off a few albums

“Some of those are mine.”

“I figured it was your girlfriend coming over. I considered it a sacrifice for the cause of impressing her family.”

Charlie rolled his eyes as he flipped the sign to OPEN and followed Ron, who was getting set up behind the counter.

“Decent playlist though,” he said as he popped his head in the back and called for Kemp. 

“Go ahead and open; then send your brother back here. I’m neck-deep in a new lot, and I could use the help,” Kemp called back

“Already opened,” Ron called as he walked back. “Just let me pop something on--”

“Nope. I have it queued up. Start it spinning, and drop the needle. You or Charlie can pick the next album,” Kemp interrupted him.

The album turned out to be a live Hendrix album that was one of Kemp’s favorites.

The inventory was full of bands that Ron had never heard of. When he asked Kemp, his boss chuckled, “Yeah, that’s part of why I got this lot--and why it was so cheap. Sure, some of these are hard to find, but it’s also pretty much all garage rock and small bands scraping together enough money to record. I’d bet at least a third of these guys recorded to a tape in their own garage,” Kemp said wistfully. “Who knows, there may be some real gems in here.”

While they were cataloguing the content, Ron was taking notes on some of the bands that looked particularly interesting. When the last Hendrix song was ending, Ron brought a box of inventoried tapes and cds to the counter.

“Charlie, here’s some new stuff. I’ve inventoried it, but I figured we could see if any of it’s any good--you can pick,” Ron said as he turned and headed into the back to continue with the large lot.

The rest of the day went fairly well. They had indeed found a few gems in that lot, and Kemp considered it a success. As the boys were getting ready to head out, Kemp called back to them, “Good luck tonight, boys. Charlie, you’re still planning on working through Wednesday, right?”

“Yes,” Charlie said from where they had paused by the door.

“And Ron, you’ll be here Tuesdays starting the week after, right?”

Ron nodded excitedly: “I think my dad is planning on visiting again, probably Wednesday so you can talk about when you want me to get here.”

“Your dad’s going to be dropping you off then, not your mum?”

Ron shrugged. “For now.”

Kemp simply nodded. “Alright then, good luck.”

Charlie grinned cheekily: “Said that already, Kemp. We’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“Alright, home for you, then I’ll go to Karen’s house,” Charlie told Ron once they were outside.

The boys set out at a faster than normal trot to the edge of the village when they heard a crack from an alley, the sound was familiar enough, but the location for it was completely foreign, and Charlie reached into an inner coat pocket as he quickly double backed after telling Ron to stay put.

Before Charlie got to the alley, a familiar mop of red hair exited the alley and after glancing both directions, he noticed them. “I figured you flying home just to fly back would not be the best option. I can take Ron with the bag and brooms so you can get to Karen’s house,” Bill said to Charlie’s unasked question.

“If you’re going to do that, I need to find a place to change,” Charlie said. “Actually, let’s just head back to the shop for a moment. That’ll be the easiest.”

The bell chimed as they entered and Kemp looked up surprised. Before he could say anything Charlie said, “Sorry Kemp, I didn’t know our brother was going to be picking Ron up. He’s going to take my bag, but I have a change of clothes for tonight. Can I nip into the back for a moment to change?” 

A few minutes later, the Weasley boys were walking their separate ways with Charlie heading into town while Bill and Ron made for the outskirts.

“How’s everyone at home doing?” Ron asked

Bill chuckled: “It’s been an interesting morning. Mum’s been going spare, as usual when company’s coming over. It probably doesn’t help that this is the first girlfriend to come home. Dad’s trying to keep everyone calm and in line, he’s already told off the twins. Three times. Percy’s being insufferable, but that’s pretty standard. Ginny keeps squealing at the idea of something ‘romantic’ happening.” He shrugged as he finished. 

“Did they give you anything to do?”

Bill shrugged again, “Not really. The day Mum and Dad decided to host the dinner, I spoke with Dad. I don’t know if you’ve walked the track from the road to the Burrow, but it’s pretty rough.” Ron nodded as Bill continued, “I’ve gone through and tried to smooth it out as much as possible. I can’t imagine that Karen’s parents would appreciate how tough it would be on their car.”

“You thought of that?”

“Dora still talks about when they last came over. Her father apparently spent two weeks focused on fixing the suspension? I think that’s what she called it. All I know is that she said it was terrible. So I figured I’d try to help.”

“You’re a good brother, Bill.”

“Thanks, kid.”

Ron turned sharply at that last comment.

“What, you don’t like it when I call you that?”

“You never have before. Only Colin calls me that,” Ron answered.

“But you like it when he calls you that?”

“I haven’t really thought about it. I guess I do.”

“Can I call you that too?” Bill asked

Ron thought for a moment before nodding.

“Good. You can call me that too.” Bill said as he pulled out the brooms.

Ron smiled. “Thanks, kid. Let’s get home and check the track.”

As far as they could tell, the track seemed good, although having never traversed the track in a car, it was pretty difficult to tell. The brothers went in and were immediately told to leave the kitchen and stay out their mother’s way. Even though the addition of people was fairly small, she seemed to be in full-fledged panic mode that they usually only saw when hosting huge parties.

Shortly, Mr. Weasley assembled the troops: “Alright kids, we’re going to get the marquee set up. All of us, and we’ll do it properly and quickly.” He gave the twins a sharp look. “Once that’s done, we’ll get the table under it. Ron and Ginny, you’ll be setting the table. Bill, you’re going to help me get some minor charms set up so that we stay comfortable in the tent, I think a mild warming charm should do the trick nicely. George, Fred, you’ll be helping with the lighting-- candles and a few torches. Ok?” He looked at his assembled children, who nodded as he caught each of their eyes in turn. “Good, let’s go.”

The marquee up, the table set, and some truly wonderful smells emanating from the kitchen of the Burrow, and suddenly, Ron realized one thing that all of them had forgotten. “Dad!” he called, unsure where his father had gone to.

“Yes?” came the answer from nearer the broom shed, and Ron headed that way.

“Dad, we forgot about drinks.”

“Did we?” Mr. Weasley asked in confusion. “We have tea, coffee, pumpkin juice, and butterbeer. What else should we have?”

“Fizzy drinks and probably wine?” Ron answered. “That’s what they drink. I mentioned pumpkin juice one time and they looked at me like I was crazy.”

“Right, they’re going to be here soon. Do you have some muggle money left?” Mr. Weasley asked.

“I think so, but I’m not sure if it’ll be enough. I think Charlie probably still has some. I’ll be right back!” Ron called over his shoulder as he tore off for the Burrow. When he got to his room he realized he only had about ten pounds, but when he checked Charlie’s room he found another ten and went back down to find his father. “This should be plenty. We just need to visit the market--I’ll give you the money, and then we can go into town. I’ll help pick out what we should get.”

After a fairly interesting experience at the local market, the father and son returned with a six-pack of soda and two bottles of red wine. As they approached the house from the back, they heard a mild ruckus and hurried their steps. 

They turned the corner of the Burrow just as Charlie came through the gate by the track. On his arm was a fairly unsteady Karen who had apparently against her father’s and boyfriend’s recommendations worn a pair of high-heeled shoes. Directly behind the young couple were the young woman’s parents--Mr. Blakemore in a sensible pair of slacks with a long sleeve shirt and Mrs. Blakemore in a fashionable dress and flat shoes. Mr. Blakemore, they both noted, was also carrying a black bag.

Ron called his greeting as his father continued to the family, and Ron ducked into the Burrow to put the soda in the ice box. His father had advised him to simply set the red wine on the counter. He would open it before dinner as they didn’t have a corkscrew. After dropping the supplies, Ron exited the Burrow and went to the group of people standing and chatting in the yard.

The conversation seemed fairly strained, although Karen was already lowered and chatting happily with Ginny who seemed to be staring at her hair, which Karen seemed to have re-dyed for the evening with some dark, deep, red streaks to match the teal that she had added a few weeks previously.

The parents were having a conversation with Bill at the edges occasionally chiming in. The rest of the Weasley children were trying to talk to Charlie at the same time, although by the time Ron got there, it seemed to have mostly devolved into Charlie threatening the twins with some fairly serious harm if they didn’t behave themselves while Percy looked on with distinct disapproval in his eyes.

Ron walked up to Karen and gave her a brief hug, “Would you like Ginny and I to show you around?” He asked, as much to Ginny as to Karen.

“That would be great!” Karen enthused. “Should we grab my parents?”

“We could, if you’d like,” Ron answered with a shrug. “Your choice.’

Karen walked over to her parents and asked if they wanted to join them for the tour. Shortly, all three of the muggles were walking back to Ron, with Bill and Charlie trailing them. Ron happily turned and walked, keeping pace with them and pointing to the orchard, the garden, and the chicken coop.

“What’s that?” Karen asked, pointing to the broom shed.

Ron shrugged. “Storage. Nothing all that fun in there. Obviously, you saw the marquee as well. Eating a proper meal in the house without guests is a little tight, so we set that up for dinner tonight.”

“Can we see the inside?” Karen asked.

Ron paused, “That’s…” he looked to Bill and Charlie who were following and offering details to Karen’s parents. Luckily, Bill had been listening.

“Maybe,” Bill said thoughtfully, “although we couldn’t go in the kitchen. At this point, Mum is pretty adamant about no one getting in her way. But there’s not much to see. I’m pretty sure all of our bedrooms are a mess, so it’s really just the living room. Can you give me a minute to make sure it’s presentable?” Before they could answer, Bill took off at a fast trot.

“This looks like a great place to grow up.” Mr. Blakemore said almost grudgingly. “I was worried about what it would be like, but with this much room, it's difficult to imagine spending all that much time inside, there’s so much room to run and play.”

Ron nodded: “It goes on for a ways, all the way back to that forest area over there.” He pointed back to the paddock where they all flew and practiced their quidditch.

“I think, as much as I got frustrated with it growing up,” Charlie chimed in, “it’s pretty ideal. That said, I’m glad now that I’m a bit older that I have the chance to spend a bit more time in town.”

“I imagine being this isolated is pretty difficult,” Mrs. Blakemore said with a knowing tone of voice.

The tone was noticed by all three of the Weasley children, who looked up at her. Apparently Charlie didn’t know why her voice sounded like that either. It took her a moment as she appeared to be lost in thought, when her husband squeezed her shoulder she appeared to come out of her reverie. When she did, she noticed the looks from her audience.

“I grew up on a sheep farm in the North. It was nice when I was young, but it was difficult as I grew up. I think that’s why I’ve always been happy to see you boys come around.” She pointedly looked at Charlie and Ron before turning to Ginny. “And you’re more than welcome to visit too, sweetie, if your parents and brothers are ok with it.”

Ginny almost exploded with excitement as she jumped up and down.

Both Ron and Charlie gave her a look. “Ask mum and dad,” the elder said. “If they’re ok with it, then it’ll be up to Ron while I’m not around. But when I come home, you’re welcome.”

At that Ginny, hurried off for her parents, already babbling excitedly. Ron looked exasperatedly up to Charlie while the Blakemore’s watched the whole exchange, expressions showing various degrees of bemusement.

“Really? Now I have to take Ginny into town?” Ron asked a little angrily.

“Ron. I didn’t have to take you, and you can set the same rules for her that I set for you. Fair is fair, right?”

The muggles all turned their eyes to the younger boy who looked down with more than a little shame. “You’re right, Charlie. I’ll take care of her,” he said as he looked up.

At that moment Bill called from the door for the Blakemores to come up and see the house, and the group headed that way.

"By the way, Karen, if you want I can help you and Charlie exchange letters this term," Ron started as they walked towards the house. "Mum and Dad have given me permission to come into town two days per week. I was hoping to hang out Tuesdays after work and either Saturday or Sunday?"

Karen looked to her parents in reply, and Mrs. Blakemore nodded.

"That should be fine. I'll drop by the shop on Tuesday and let you know if Saturday or Sunday is better. Or Colin will if I can't," Karen answered.

They entered The Burrow's living room; then and the conversation paused. The furniture, the Blakemores commented, was sensible with so many children. The muggles seemed to be affected in some strange way. Mr. and Mrs. Blakemore were at each other's side, each with an arm wrapped around the other while Karen had backed into Charlie, tucking herself under his chin and pulling his arms around her, all three (four if you count Charlie) stood with looks of absolute contentment on their faces.

"Dinner!" came the call from outside, apparently breaking the spell, although only Bill and Ron noticed the change.

"Right then." Mr. Blakemore said, turning to the door.

The group arrived at the marquee and were surprised to find a full feast already set up.

Everyone took their seats, except for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who stood at opposite ends of the table with their hands on the chair backs in front of them.

"Thank you Rob and Claire for joining us this evening and for allowing our sons to join you so regularly. And Karen, thank you too," Mr. Weasly said. "Now, let's eat."

The usual chaos of hovering plates and rogue spoons floating was well subdued, and an orderly round of passing plates around began. Soon, everyone had their plates back and the chatter quieted for a few moments.

"Oh my goodness!" Mrs. Blakemore exclaimed. Several eyes shot to her, but some went straight to the twins. "This is amazing! All of it!"

The other two Blakemores nodded enthusiastically, swallowing quickly to chime in.

"Yes, Molly, how you managed all this with so little notice is--" Mr Blakemore started before he was cut off by Karen:

"Yes, thank you, Mrs. Weasly. It's fantastic."

Molly Weasley smiled and accepted the praise, allowing pride to swell in her chest. As the meal came to an end, the volume around the table began to grow.

The Blakemores continued to be effusive about the food, and the Weasley twins continued to restrain themselves. A hoot from the direction of The Burrow was heard, and Bill politely excused himself.

"You have a lovely home," Mrs. Blakemore said fondly. "Unconventional, certainly, but it's truly lovely. If I didn't know better I'd say you could feel the love."

That comment earned some peculiar looks from the Weasley's and nods of assent from the Blakemores.

Bill bolted back into the tent and shouted, “I got it!”

This apparent non-sequitur caused confusion among the Blakemores and shouts of joy and congratulations from the Weasleys. After several hugs and slaps on the back, Karen finally spoke up: “Got what?”

“My dream job,” Bill said, “With…” he trailed off.

“A bank, in London.” Charlie completed after an awkward moment. “He’ll probably be traveling all over the world for it.” Pride at his brother’s accomplishment was thick in his voice.

“Oh! Congratulations, Bill!” Karen said excitedly, giving him a brief hug.

Mr. Blakemore had stood and walked around the table. “You don’t seem like the banking type, but I can see the appeal of travel. Congratulations,” he extended his hand to Bill, who shook it firmly.

“It’s not a traditional bankers job, that’s for sure.” Bill said with a smile, “And thank you.”

After a round of congratulations, Mr. Weasley spoke up, apparently returning to Mrs. Blakemore's comment: "Thank you. The Burrow isn't much, but there's plenty of love around. Also, I owe you thanks for inviting my daughter to visit your home, if she was being honest that is."

Ginny huffed at that and the rest of the table chuckled.

"She's welcome to visit with Ron when he comes," Mrs. Blakemore answered, "But Charlie apparently had rules for Ron that he is now allowed to enforce on his sister." The last comment drew a chuckle from Charlie and looks from everyone else.

"Rules?" Mr. Weasley asked, smiling genially.

Charlie didn't answer, he just nudged Ron who was looking at Ginny.

"Don't embarrass me or Charlie." Ron stated, after a pause he asked, "Can you be cool?"

Charlie snorted and Ginny looked bewildered. She glanced to her parents for advice but found no help and looked back to Ron. "I think so?" she asked.

Ron shook his head, "Not good enough. Can you. Be cool?" he changed his emphasis.

"I'll try."

"Do or do not, there is no try." Ron did a pitch-perfect Yoda impression earning laughs from Charlie and the Blakemores and looks of bewilderment from the rest of the table.

"Huh?" Ginny seemed even more confused.

"You can be cool or you can't," Charlie said through a laugh. "If you aren't sure it won't happen."

"I can do it." Ginny said firmly. 

"I guess we'll see," Charlie said with a nod. He looked around and leaned to his side and whispered to Ron, "Go grab the record player and set it by the door. Put something to dance to--slow."

Ron nodded happily and bolted for The Burrow as Charlie turned to Karen. Unbeknownst to Ron, Bill was following him.

"You get the records. I'll get the phonograph," Bill startled Ron when he spoke.

Once Ron recovered, he bounded up the stairs and puzzled over what to play. He grabbed two options: one standby--Aretha Franklin's The Girl's In Love With You--and decided on something unusual for the other option. It was one of his favorites and not just because there was a song about food like Charlie always teased him about: Tom Waits’s Nighthawks At the Diner. Part of it was the music--he'd listened to Kemp talk about it first and wanted to like it, and unlike a lot of what Kemp raved about, he found that he did.

He leapt down the stairs by the flight, lightly crashing into the wall each time and bouncing off like the pinballs in the diner he had visited with Charlie and Karen after his first pay day. He found Bill standing by the phonograph and paused.

"Mum will be cross." Ron stated, "Any ideas?"

Bill smirked: "What are you playing first?"

Ron held up Aretha Franklin.

Bills smirk became a full-blown smile, and he nodded. "Count to ten, then start it up." He turned and quickly turned back: "Give me twenty." At that addendum, he sprinted for the marquee. First whispering to Charlie, who stood and whispered to Karen. Then he went to Ginny as Ron dropped the needle and turned the volume up.

Before the first note played, Bill, Charlie, Ginny, and Karen had approached their targets, and soon, five couples were dancing: Fred and George were taking it in turns to twirl with a heavily protesting Percy; Karen and Ginny danced with their respective fathers; Bill was dancing with his mother; and Charlie was with Mrs. Blakemore. 

Karen and Ginny switched partners after the first song and the twins grabbed the mothers, granting Percy a brief relief until the next song, when his mother pulled him out of his chair.

Ron was watching the dancing and soaking in the music. He didn't even notice Karen approaching him.

"May I have this dance?" she asked, holding her hand out to him.

Ron's first reaction was to blush to the point where there couldn't have been much blood anywhere but his neck and head. But he nodded and was pulled into what amounted to an extended, spinning hug. He was suddenly thankful that he had a growth spurt, and that Karen was shorter; he was less than a head shorter than her. The song ended, and Karen leaned down to kiss him on the cheek, whispering, "Thanks." 

"For what?" he whispered back as the next song started.

"Making this happen. Getting me to surprise you and Charlie at the shop while your family was there.” Karen shrugged and began dancing her way back to the marquee to the more upbeat Eleanor Rigby. 

Ron continued trying to recover while he watched and thought. As the song played, Ron watched the people like chess pieces. The couples must all have known that the first song of the next side was a romantic one, and they were already maneuvering to ensure they could dance together. The scene sparked a memory for Ron--

“Let’s continue your musical education,” Kemp had started. “Music can set, break, and adjust moods at any party. If you ever think the night needs some extra romance, no matter what you had planned to play, put this on.” Kemp held up a record as he said the last few words.

Ron bolted. He had the album, and he wanted to make the transition as seamless as possible. Grabbing the selection he sprinted down the stairs, carroming off the walls again. The last song was winding down, and he took a moment to collect his thoughts as the needle played through the end.

The couples were poised and singing started.

“ _These...arms...of...mine..._ ”

The abrupt change caused some confusion and a few sets of eyes snapped to him before the couples melted together, swaying in time. Fred and George chose to sit this one out, and as the music played, all those not dancing sat back in their chairs and closed their eyes.

In the silence after the first track ended, Ron received a brief and largely silent round of applause from Charlie. The next song started--a more up-beat tune, and the marquee was dancing again. Ron let the record play through, but got the sense that the party was winding down, so he went with his initial second choice and set it to play as he walked back down to the table and the rest of the group.

The applause and whistles from the record were joined by the group who decided to applaud his performance.

“Nice change-up, kid,” Charlie said.

Mrs. Weasley tried to look stern after her son had blatantly disobeyed her instructions, but couldn’t keep a smile off her face. “Thank you,” she said.

“It’s been a magical night,” Karen murmured, the Weasleys stiffened a little, but Mr. and Mrs. Blakemore were too busy agreeing to notice.

“True. It’s a shame we can’t do it again before you head out,” Mr. Blakemore said before his voice became more stern. “We could have done this regularly if you had told your family sooner.” It was clear he wasn’t going to let Charlie live down the decision for a while.

Charlie hung his head, but didn’t say anything.

“Maybe when we’re home for the Christmas holidays?” Fred asked.

“Might be too cold,” George answered.

“Charlie offered pizza,” Fred continued.

“Town sounds good,” George said.

The Blakemores’ heads were bouncing back and forth like they were watching a tennis match.

“DJ probably won’t be as good,” Fred continued.

“Somewhere with a jukebox?” Charlie chimed in.

“I’ll get the coins,” Ron said.

The twins nodded. “Yes,” Fred said.

“I think?” George answered. Clearly he was willing to admit the confusion that both were feeling.

“Or,” Mrs. Blakemore said, the first to recover, “I could try to match your mother's marvelous cooking. Although, I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, I’ve had professionally catered meals that didn’t hold a candle to that.”

Molly blushed, “Well, we could also bring something.”

“But,” Mr. Blakemore started, “unless you have two cars, I don’t think that’d really work.”

“True,” Mr. Weasley said. “Although I could borrow one.”

“Nonsense, Colin can take one of our cars and help ferry some of the children to our home. What’s the good of having children if you can’t put them to work every now and then?” Mr. Blakemore said with a smile.

The twins gasped. “It’s a plot!” they yelled together, and the group fell into laughter.

After the group recovered, hugs and handshakes were had between all of the participants, and the Blakemores took their leave with Karen being walked back to the car by Charlie.

The Weasleys began cleaning up without magic, but once Charlie returned at the gate, the magic followed, and soon, the family trooped inside with almost no evidence of the party that had just occurred.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own the characters or the wizarding world, that goes to JKR and the various publishing conglomerates
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1XMZpzwcTy407ATAZVVFGN?si=uLcZBwydRRyv22lsfgFkTg

The next few days passed quickly, and soon, the family was at Kings Cross, sending a majority of the children off for the year. 

Saturday came, and Mr. Weasley apparated his two youngest children into town and began walking them to the Blakemores’ home.

It didn’t take long before there was a problem with Ginny’s first day truly inside the muggle world. They had been sitting in the Blakemores’ home, much like Ron’s first day, and she began to fidget, and then she kept asking Ron questions.

“How long do we do this?” Ginny asked.

“Do what?”

“Just sit here. Listening to music. They’re only talking about music. I don’t get why you like coming here so much.” Ginny answered.

Ron looked at her, “The music is mostly why I come. Sure, I like everyone here, but it’s mostly about listening.” 

She just looked at him, surprised. 

“If you’re not having fun, I can introduce you to Beth, but remember, even if you’re talking with her, you have to be careful what you talk about,” Ron said, trying his best to sound stern. 

Ginny nodded and stood, Ron followed suit and walked up the stairs, knocking on Beth’s door.

After a brief introduction, Ron went back down to the older group and took a seat that was more central. He had slowly been building up his confidence over the summer and had started chiming in on some of the various discussions that they had. He would generally add a side comment or simply agree with people. 

“Me next,” Ellie said, reaching into her bag.

More than a few groans came when the group saw what she was pulling out.

“You are obsessed with this guy.” “Not again.” “Come on, again with this guy?” came the calls from all corners of the room.

Ellie seemed annoyed by her friends’ comments before Ron spoke up, “I like Tom Waits. What album is that?”

Ellie smiled and handed the album over. “At least someone else appreciates my taste in music. It’s newer, came out last year. He’s starting to get more experimental,” Ellie explained. “I was just going to ask them to listen to one song, but I’m not sure if that’ll happen now.” She cast an annoyed look at the rest of the circle while Ron examined the track list.

“Fine. One track, and only because you’ve converted him to your cause,” Karen said rolling her eyes, “What song?”

“Opening track, right?” Ron asked Ellie, who nodded before Ron began passing the album over towards Colin who was at his normal station by the stereo.

Ellie was right, certainly more experimental and discordant, but it was still interesting, and Ron and Ellie both started chatting about it as soon as it was over. Colin quickly pulled it out, dropped the next piece of vinyl on, and slid the album back to Ellie.

The rest of the crowd began filtering out a few hours later. Ginny still hadn’t returned from her foray into Beth’s room when Mr. Weasley knocked on the door to take them home. Unfortunately, as cool as Ginny may have been while at the Blakemores’ home, she became a chatterbox for the rest of the evening, raving about her new friends and how much of a fun time she had with them. Her joyous recounting lasted all through Saturday night and into Sunday, driving Ron out of the room and asking his parents if he could not bring her next time.

*********

The summer had gotten Ron into the habit of waking early, which had continued even after Charlie had left, meaning that Ron had gotten through his chores before he used to wake up prior to this past summer. 

When the first Tuesday came, Ron completed his chores and started his lessons. However, he wasn’t done when his father Flooed home to take him to the shop.

“Ron,” Mr. Weasley started off sternly, “you said you would keep up with your lessons. If you can’t, we might have to re-evaluate your working in the shop.”

“I know,” Ron started. “I can take some of it to the shop and get it done, and I can make up the time tomorrow.”

After a quick conference Mr. and Mrs. Weasley agreed to allow him a few weeks to find a rhythm that would work. The days flowed into weeks in a blur of lessons, chores, days at the shop, and days with his friends. 

Three weeks into what had become his new routine, Ron was stocking new releases when Colin walked into the shop.

“Hey, kid, we aren’t going to be around this weekend, so we’ll have to cancel, alright?”

“Sure,” Ron couldn’t keep the disappointment out of his voice. “What’s going on?”

“Just some family stuff,” Colin said simply. “We should be fine for next weekend.”

Once Colin had left, Kemp commented, “So you’re free this weekend?”

“I guess so,” Ron said, shrugging and sounding forlorn.

“Would you be open to working this weekend? I could pick you up. I’ve got a lot I’m going to check out in the morning, and then we’ll start inventorying when we get back.”

Ron brightened. “I’d like that, but I’ll have to ask my dad when he comes to pick me up tonight.”

Mr. Weasley seemed wary of letting Ron work a second day, but told Kemp he would allow it once to see if Ron could handle it. Much to the surprise of Mrs. Weasley, he could. Ron had even gotten into the habit of, if he finished his lessons early for the day, asking for some of the next day’s so he could work ahead. By the end of October, he was 2 full weeks ahead of where he needed to be, and Mrs. Weasley simply kept feeding him more work.

Ginny wasn’t quite as diligent in her schoolwork, although she was consistently far enough ahead to join Ron about every other week, when the Blakemores were hosting.  


*********************************************************************************************************

The weeks continued to fly by, and on a rather snowy Tuesday in late November, Kemp asked about Charlie’s plans for the Christmas holidays.

“He should be home the evening of the twenty-third,” Ron answered.

Kemp nodded a little distractedly. “Damn, I was hoping he’d be in sooner than that. I could really use some help that Saturday.”

“I can come in,” Ron said instantly.

“You sure? Your parents only agreed to one day a week, and you’ve done an extra few days every month so far.”

Ron shrugged: “Mum hasn’t said my lessons were slipping, and I’m still getting my chores done.”

Mrs. Weasley picked up Ron that evening. Immediately upon entrance, Ron gave her the rundown.

“Oh, I was hoping you’d be able to watch your sister for a bit while we picked up your brothers,” was her first reaction.

“I can probably take her here, right Kemp?” Ron asked before his mother could get another word in.

“She won’t cause any trouble?” Kemp asked, not really concerned with the answer.

“No more than I did when Charlie brought me here,” Ron said with a grin.

Mrs. Weasley had been about to scold her son, but she just watched the interaction happen. After the exchange she simply said, “I’ll have to have a talk with your father tonight. Mr. Kemp, we’ll let you know next week.”

“Yes ma’am,” Kemp responded dutifully. 

From the apparition point Mrs. Weasley sent Ron straight in to wash up while she searched out her husband. Ron found them together a few minutes later. 

“Am I bringing Ginny?” he asked simply.

“That depends,” Mr. Weasley started. “Do you think she’ll cause trouble?”

“I don’t think so. She might whine about being bored, but I thought she would bring a book or some of her lessons. We have a little area where she can get work done,” Ron answered.

“But will that space be available? I imagine it will be quite busy, which is why Mr. Kemp needs the help,” Mr. Weasley pressed.

“Even if that spot isn’t available, there’s a desk in the back. As long as she doesn’t mess with anything, it should be fine.” Ron answered.

“Do you want her to come?” Mr. Weasley asked, interested.

“Not really, but I could use the money for Christmas presents, and if it’s the only way I can work, then I’ll bring her.”

Ron noticed a glint in Mr. Weasley’s eye as he spoke. “I think you can work that Saturday. We’ll have to decide about what to do with Ginny over the next few days.”

During dinner that evening, Ginny was asked if she’d like to go, and she shook her head, “Can I come to King’s Cross instead?”

“I suppose that solves that,” Mr. Weasley said with a laugh. “Ginny, yes you can come with us. Ron you’re free to go to the shop, although I may have to drop you off earlier than normal so that we can get to King’s Cross on time.”

The weeks continued, and when Karen stopped by on Tuesday, Ron told her that he and Charlie would be by for dinner on Saturday, she squealed so much someone who was walking by the front window stopped to look in. She hugged Ron and spun and then ran out the door.

Saturday rolled around, and Mr. Weasley dropped Ron off two hours before the shop normally opened, but Kemp already seemed more frantic than Ron had ever seen him, and the shop was a mess.

“Alright, Ron. Let’s prepare for battle. It’s going to be a difficult day. We’ll need to be on our toes and probably won’t have the time we normally do.”

Ron nodded and began organizing the racks, as they looked like a tornado had spun them all around. The hours passed quickly, and soon, Kemp gave him the next round of marching orders.

“We’ll be opening soon. I’m going to man the counter. I think it’s going to be a busy day and I know you’re good with the till, but I don’t want you to push your luck today.” When Ron nodded, Kemp continued, “While you’ve been restoring order up front, I’ve been getting re-stocking prepped. In the back, I’ve got 200 albums, 150 cds, and 100 tapes ready to go in the back, already organized alphabetically and by genre.”

Ron’s eyes grew wide at the recitation. Kemp was never that prepared. “So I answer questions and re-stock,” he stated.

Kemp nodded a little manically. “We’ll get through this,” he stated.

Ron turned over the sign, and--nothing happened. As the day went on, it did get busy. Busier than Ron had experienced it, and Ron was re-stocking regularly, but he was a little underwhelmed until about four o’clock, and then it got hectic. Luckily, Charlie showed up around five and began helping out on the floor.

Half an hour prior to the shop closing, the chaos had died down. Kemp looked happy and exhausted; Charlie still seemed baffled by what he had walked into and anxious to leave, and Ron was leaning heavily against the counter, trying to stay awake and failing, until Charlie shook him by the shoulder.

“Ron, wake up, kid. We’ve got to go to Karen’s for dinner.”

Ron just groaned.

“I can take him home once we close up,” Kemp offered, “We’ll pick up burgers on the way since your family wasn’t planning on feeding him tonight.”

“Burgers,” Ron said dreamily.

“You sure?” Charlie asked. “He’s not the best navigator when he’s awake.”

“I’ve picked him up before. He can sleep if he wants. Although I’m not sure how my car will deal with that track in the snow.”

“Here,” Charlie said, handing over a bulkier bag than normal. “This has some boots in it, he can change into them and walk the track,” he finished while he pulled out a few sloppily wrapped packages. He looked at his small burden and asked, “Can I borrow a milk crate?”

“Deal,” Kemp said, still marvelling at how the bag hadn’t seemed to get any smaller even after the presents were removed.

“Thanks, Kemp!” Charlie said, placing the packages in the crate. “See you after Boxing day!” And with that, he took his leave.

Ron was awoken by Kemp deciding to play Metal Machine Music while he counted the drawer. He swapped his shoes with the boots in Charlie's bag and did a quick check for the broom, which he found easily enough. After stopping by the diner for a few burgers and a milkshake to go, he and Kemp were on their way to the Burrow.

“You sure you can get home from here?” Kemp asked as he pulled off the road, eyeing the narrow track warily. 

“Yup,” Ron answered sleepily. “The cold will wake me up.”

“I imagine that’s true,” Kemp answered. “Be careful, and I’ll see you on Wednesday.”

“Yup,” Ron said, hopping out of the car. He walked a few steps before the headlights receded and turned away, at which point he pulled out the broom, hopped on, and slung the bag over his shoulder, racing off. He lay low on the broom, stretching himself to speed himself along.

When he entered the Burrow, his first greeting came from Bill: “You’re home early.”

Ron nodded and let loose a massive yawn, adding unnecessarily, “Tired.”

“Where’s Charlie?” Bill asked.

“Karen’s,” Ron said. “Going to bed.”

Without another word, Ron trudged up the stairs and fell asleep fully clothed.

The next morning, he woke a little later than normal, and as he woke and moved a bit he realized he was still wearing his clothes from the previous day. He stood and staggered, still half asleep, downstairs to complete his morning chores. When he entered the kitchen, he found his mother and father sitting at the table, drinking tea.

“Good morning,” Ron said, yawning.

“Good morning, Ron. Was yesterday as busy as Kemp expected?” his father asked.

Ron yawned again and nodded. “Charlie stopped by for the last 2 hours or so.”

“And then?” his mother pressed.

“I was too tired to go to Karen’s house. Kemp offered to drive me home, but he wasn’t sure if his car could make it all the way up the track, so he dropped me off at the end of the track, and I flew home,” Ron answered, “I was going to go take care of the chickens and finish my chores.” He finished as he shuffled to the door.

“Ron,” his mother stopped him. “It’s Christmas Eve. Your father took care of the chores.”

Ron nodded. “Then I’m going to go wash and change.” He turned and left. When he returned to his room after washing up, he dressed in lazy clothes and promptly fell dead asleep. He woke to his father's amused smile and a gentle prodding in his back.

“Good morning, son. Again.”

“Morning, Dad,” Ron said. “Sorry I fell asleep again. Breakfast time?” His father nodded.

When they entered the kitchen, Ron found himself in the position of being the last child to the table.

“Good!” Ginny shouted. “Hurry up. I wanna hear Fred and George’s story.”

“Not much to tell, Ginny,” Fred answered.

“Yeah. We caught a death eater,” George answered, shrugging.

“But...” a confused Ron started, “all of the death eaters are in Azkaban.” Ron looked to his father. “Aren’t they?”

His father didn’t respond to the question and instead turned to the twins. “The Prophet was a little thin on details. How did you catch him?”

“We acquired a map that shows where people are at in school. Peter Pettigrew was listed in Percy’s dorm room,” Fred started.

“We told Charlie, who took us to Dumbledore’s office,” George continued. “That’s all, really.”

“And what happened to the map?” Mrs. Weasley asked. “That sounds like a very dangerous item.”

“Professor Dumbledore gave it back to us,” Fred said, both of the twins’ chests swelling visibly with pride at the notion.

“Yeah, he said we showed ourselves responsible enough.” George finished.

“Well it sounds like you had an exciting first term,” Mr Weasley cut in, forestalling his wife’s interrogation and signalling her that they could continue it later, “and anyway, we have a surprise for all of you. We’ll have guests for dinner tonight, and then as discussed with the Blakemores, we’ll be spending Boxing day dinner with them.”

A cacophony of questions about the ‘mysterious guests’ was hurled at the Weasley patriarch who smiled and answered with, “Molly, let’s eat breakfast.”

*********************************************************************************************************

The game was going fairly well. Ron was getting to be a better flyer thanks to his frequent flights with Charlie and the small tips he had received from his brother, but his longer reach meant he continued to be the keeper for the family games.

The twins’ aerial acrobatics and intuitive understanding of each other’s flying techniques combined with Ron’s reach made them a formidable defense. However, without a bludger they were throwing snowballs and it made the defense easier to crack. Charlie, Bill, and Ginny (who was flying for Percy who had given up and was doing homework under a nearby tree) played the offensive side and collectively were more than a match for the trio of brothers.

Ron was watching the action when Ginny broke through the fray; she was small and could dodge well as she was quite light. All of the Weasley sons had admitted how good of a flyer she was, though none had told her. She needed to keep pushing herself if she was going to make her dream of playing professionally. 

Ron started matching her jinks and jukes when something cold and wet hit the side of his head. “Oi! Fred! George! I’m on your team!”

As Ron was busy yelling, Ginny easily threw their worn-out quaffle through the hoop on his left. The play stopped for a moment, and the twins looked confused, as they had been spending most of their time fending off the elder pair.

Then, a sudden deluge of snowballs came from seemingly all directions, pelting all of the Weasley children, including the highly distressed Percy.

“To me!” Bill shouted, diving for the ground in the center of the clearing and drawing his wand. He and Charlie quickly formed a circular fort with high enough walls to protect them by the time Ginny and Ron landed. The twins were stockpiling snowballs and all of them were laughing their heads off, except a highly disgruntled Percy, who was being hit even as he dove over the side into the fort.

“Our dinner guests?” The twins asked.

“Either that or Diggory is having a big Christmas party and brought a group to crash our game,” Charlie said, laughing as he turned to Bill and saluted. “Orders, sir?” 

Bill’s chuckle of a response turned into a laugh as all of his siblings fell in line. “I’m not the best for this. Fred, George- consider this a battlefield promotion,” Bill smiled.

“Pair up,” George started.

“Percy, Bill, and Charlie with at least one of us babies,” Fred continued

“Bill, you get two,” George added.

“You shield; we’ll counter-attack,” Fred finished.

“Before we head out, Ron, where are they?” Charlie asked.

“Why ask me?” a very confused Ron asked.

“You and Bill are the chess players,” George said.

“Yeah, don’t you know tactics?” Fred asked.

Bill cut in, “There’s at least three. Probably closer to six though.”

“They had us surrounded,” Ron said, thinking back, “but I think three is right.”

“Why?” Percy asked.

“No time!” Bill yelled, pointing up. “Run For it!”

A huge snow pile hovered over them and fell just as Bill yelled. No one escaped.

It was a very cold, wet, and frustrated group that dug their way out to find their father with two men, one of whom they found familiar from pictures in the paper. No one spoke until all of the Weasley children were dried and had warming charms applied, though the three older men were shaking with stifled laughter.

“I demand a rematch,” Fred declared

“As do I. Satisfaction will be ours,” George followed up.

“Agreed. But wandless,” Charlie said.

All but Percy were game for round two. However before the snowballs could fly, Mr. Weasley interjected, “Maybe in a moment, but first, don’t you want to know who you’re declaring war on?”

“Might help with the fight,” Bill answered, stretching a hand towards the taller man with darker hair. “It’s nice to meet you Mr. Black. I’m Bill Weasley.”

The man shook his hand and nodded. “I guess I’ve been in the paper enough.”

“Remus Lupin,” the other man said as he grabbed Charlie’s hand.

Soon, the introductions made, Sirius focused his attention on the twins. “I owe you a debt I’ll never be able to repay,” he said with more than a little solemnity. “If you ever need anything, just let me know.”

The twins nodded and shared a look before Fred spoke: “Thank you. We only did our duty as the next generation of Marauders.”

“In spirit, if not in blood,” George finished.

Sirius and Remus eyed the twins closely before Remus spoke: “The map. That’s how you caught Wormtail.” He smiled wryly. “No wonder Dumbledore was so light on the details. Can I assume your family knows?”

The twins nodded.

“And Dumbledore has it now?” Sirius asked, sounding disappointed.

The twins shook their heads.

“Interesting. Not just pranksters then.” Remus laughed at the affronted looks on the twins faces.

“I demand satisfaction, sir!” Fred yelled, sending a snowball he had hidden square into the older man's face.

“Scatter!” Bill yelled, and the fight was on. The adults decided to ignore Charlie’s suggestion of going wandless, though their greater command of magic was somewhat dampened as Sirius was still weak from his time in Azkaban, and soon, the adults were being chased to the Burrow by a pack of snow animals, with Ginny gleefully leading the charge riding a large dog. The boys were pelting the fleeing adults from their brooms.

As the laughing group got closer to the Burrow, the animals collapsed into small piles of snow.

Remus slowed to a walk, waiting for Bill to catch up to him, “That was some truly impressive magic.” 

Bill nodded in thanks. “McGonagall's standards haven’t slipped. I managed an O in my Transfiguration NEWT.”

The visiting continued as they trooped inside after thoroughly drying their clothes. Ron settled on the floor next to the phonograph, flipping through the few records left in the main room, not interested in what he had seen, and began listening to the conversation around him. First about Bill and his new job: “They’ve got me doing some advanced training and studying in London, but I’ll get my first assignment in the next few weeks.” Charlie spoke about his prefect duties, quidditch, and the idea of working on a dragon reserve. Percy mentioned he was excited to join the world of politics when he graduated Hogwarts, causing his siblings to roll their eyes. The twins said they wanted to make the world laugh more. 

When Ron was questioned he shrugged. “I like music,” he answered quietly.

“Ah, Weird Sisters fan, eh?” Remus asked.

Ron scoffed and the family laughed at his reaction. “I guess, but they aren’t that great. I really like muggle music.”

“Oh, really? Like what?” Sirius asked.

“All sorts, really. Bob Dylan’s got some great albums, and the Beatles are decent. The Clash is great, and the Rolling Stones, too. Tom Waits is probably my favorite. Oh, and The Men They Couldn’t Hang has a really interesting--” Ron was cut off.

“If you let him keep going you’ll never get him to stop,” Mrs. Weasley said, causing the rest of the room to chuckle good-naturedly.

The conversation continued on to Ginny who stated proudly that she was going to play quidditch. Which caused the conversation to shift into sports and the teams that all of them supported. After about fifteen minutes, Mrs. Weasley stood to finish preparing dinner, and Lupin moved to where she had been sitting to be nearer to Ron’s position.

“Interested in music--do you play?” He asked.

“Nope, just listen,” Ron answered.

“Do you want to play?” Lupin asked.

“I hadn’t thought about it. Right now I just enjoy working at the shop.”

“You work at a shop?”

Ron nodded: “One or two days a week now. This past summer it was most days.”

“Why?” Lupin asked, “you’re pretty young for a job.”

“I like being there, and I can help around here.” Ron trailed off before continuing more quietly, almost to himself, “Maybe then I’ll get some new stuff, instead of my brother's old stuff.” 

Quiet fell around the two before Ron continued, beaming, “Plus, soon I’ll have enough for my own stereo”

Remus smiled, “But you won’t be able to use that soon. It certainly won’t work at Hogwarts. I’d even be surprised if it worked here.”

“Charlie!” Ron yelled, confusing Lupin with the apparent non-sequitur, “Can I show Lupin your stereo?” When his older brother nodded, Charlie scampered up the stairs, and returned a few moments later to the living room.

Setting the stereo on the side table with the two bemused strangers Ron flipped the switch and without looking hit ‘play’. Nothing happened. Charlie was already on his way over as Ron pulled the batteries out. He waved his wand in a fairly complex motion and turned back to his seat. As he did so, he asked, “What’s in?”

Ron flipped the switched, skipped to track 7 and The Beastie Boys _Fight For Your Right_ blasted from the stereo, startling Remus and Sirius who had already been thoroughly confused into silence.

“Did you just cast a spell to make batteries work?” Remus asked first, surprising the Weasleys with his knowledge of muggle technology.

“Yes and no,” Charlie answered, “Pandora Lovegood developed the spell. It basically allows me to fill the battery with magical energy, which powers the stereo. Her theory was that magical energy operates in a similar capacity to electricity.

Remus was listening raptly, “And apparently it works.”

“This year I’ve been showing it to some students and seeing if it’s worth trying to sell the stuff.” Charlie nodded.

“Been a lot of interest, too.” Bill commented.

“True.” The twins responded in unison.

“Wait.” Sirius held up his hands, “You’re telling me that this works, even at Hogwarts?”

“Yeah. It’s just magical energy.” Charlie answered, “I actually have to talk to Pandora, she asked me to look into larger batteries and I think I figured out that problem last night.”

“What do you need bigger batteries for?” Ron asked.

“She thought there might be a way to bring films to Hogwarts and I reckon a telly would drain those in about a second.”

“Why Hogwarts though?” Remus asked, “I would think that wouldn’t be very profitable.” 

Charlie smiled, “It’s the Lovegoods. They thought it could augment Muggle Studies.”

Remus stood, walking back to Sirius and leaning in to hold a whispered conversation.

“Charlie, you said you wanted to work with dragons. Why not start a shop and make a business out of this?” Remus asked after their private conversation ended.

Charlie shrugged, “I like music, and I think it would be great. But we’d need a shop, plus there’s plenty of purebloods who hate muggle things, I didn’t think there’d be enough interest. Plus, I want to work with dragons. I always have -”

“Dinner!” Came the call from the kitchen, cutting off further discussion.

The evening continued in the fairly chaotic way everyone was expecting and a few hours later Remus and Sirius were saying their goodbyes.

“One last thing before we go. When are you planning on meeting Pandora?” Remus asked.

“Probably after work on Wednesday.” Charlie answered with a shrug, “It’s not like we’re setting up a formal appointment or anything.

“Can we meet you at the shop?” Sirius asked, “And join you for the meeting? We have a proposal.”

“We’ll probably have to stop by my girlfriend's house first, but sure.” Charlie answered with another shrug.

The older pair nodded and took their leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be a bit of an interlude that shows some of the events experienced by the twins and Sirius.
> 
> These interludes will pop up occasionally. Originally they were going to be companion stories titled "Brother Of Mine" and "A Series Of Sirius Events" but I decided to keep them in the same story for ease of reading - obviously events that were set in motion by the main story will have some far-reaching consequences.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own the characters or the wizarding world, that goes to JKR and the various publishing conglomerates
> 
> Also, I removed the 'interlude' chapter. After some consideration I bumped those two pieces out into their own stories: "MiM: Brother of Mine" and "MiM: A Series of Sirius Events". I've been writing more and I should get back to a more regular posting schedule soon.
> 
> Chapter 6 playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7fSZzbNofIyFb55xUcVMef?si=0Qg_o1HFQymjAR-cIz0-gA

I don’t own the characters or the wizarding world, that goes to JKR and the various publishing conglomerates

Chapter 6 playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7fSZzbNofIyFb55xUcVMef?si=0Qg_o1HFQymjAR-cIz0-gA

****  
Christmas with Auntie Muriel was excruciating as always. It was so bad that arriving back at The Burrow, the Weasley parents declared they would no longer demand returns from Hogwarts to visit her.

That evening modest gifts were handed out, like past years at the Weasley home, the gifts were largely hand made sweaters and a few sweets. However, unlike previous years, included in the mix this year were walkmans for each of the Weasley children except for Charlie and Bill who had gifted them.

The final gift was addressed to Fred, George, Percy, and Ginny. Inside were a mixture of tapes for them to share from Ron, who had been let in on the secret a few days prior.

Boxing Day at the Blakemores seemed much more at ease than their visit to the Burrow, until after dinner and pudding when Mrs. Weasley couldn’t restrain herself.

“You two have been together for a while.” She said, gesturing to her second-oldest son and Karen. The atmosphere quickly cooled and grew tense.

“Mum-” Came Charlie's long-suffering voice.

“Am I wrong?” Mrs. Weasley interrupted him almost immediately.

“No.” Karen answered, “But we haven’t even taken our A-levels yet. We still need to go to university.” 

Mrs. Weasley was taken aback, while Mr. and Mrs. Blakemore looked on in pride.

“Besides.” Karen continued seeing she had Mrs. Weasley on her heels, “Sometimes, dating isn’t supposed to be forever. We’re young and who knows where we’ll end up. Isn’t it enough that we’re happy now?”

“Quite right.” Mr. Weasley chimed in forestalling future arguments from his wife.

The tension around the table hung thick until Colin cut through it, “So, film?”

“Star Wars!” Ron yelled excitedly, earning confused looks from most of o his siblings and eye rolls from Colin, Karen, and Charlie.

“Again?” Colin asked, standing.

“None of them have seen it.” Ron answered, waving a hand over his shoulder at his siblings as he followed Colin out of the room. “They’ll love it.”

Ron was right. Although he had noticed Karen and Charlie slipping out fairly soon after the opening crawl.

After the film the Weasley’s, less Charlie, took their leave.

Once safely ensconced in The Burrow Mrs. Weasley started up again, “With all the time those two spend together, can you believe-”

“Dear.” Mr. Weasley interrupted firmly, “I believe Charlie is every bit as serious as you are about _his_ relationship.” He paused looking at her and the rest of the family, “But think of the secrets he’s been keeping from her. And imagine him proposing and then running off to the dragon preserves.”

The festivities continued with an exploding snap until the children began trudging up the stairs to bed in their turn.

The next morning Ron rose and completed his chores and was cleaned up at the table waiting for Charlie who seemed rather subdued as they two headed out the door. As they mounted the brooms Charlie cast a pair of warming charms on each of them and they began flying into town.

As the brothers walked through town Ron decided to speak up, “Are you ok? You’re really quiet today.”

Charlie sighed, “Yeah, just…” He trailed off, “I just tried to see where Karen and I stand last night but it’s difficult when I can’t be honest about what I want to do.”

“What did you tell her?”

“Wildlife preserve in Africa. It’s about as close as I can get to being honest.” Charlie shrugged.

“What did she say to that?”

Charlie shrugged again: “She wasn’t overly excited about the idea, but she wants to go to university anyway, so that’s four years, and who knows what will happen from there.”

The brothers completed their walk to work in a companionable silence and fell into their old opening routine. Neither noticed Kemp’s absence until a full thirty minutes had passed.

“Have you seen Kemp?” Charlie called from the back room.

“Nope.” Ron shrugged. “He’s left us alone before. Might just have found a new lot to check out.”

Kemp didn’t turn up until lunch, and when he turned up, he brought an extra sausage roll for each Weasley. After they ate, he proved Ron correct as he enlisted them to help him carry in crates of vinyl.

The rest of the day consisted of inspecting, inventorying, and pricing the new items, as it seemed to be a slow retail day. A few minutes prior to closing, Mr. Weasley entered, followed by Sirius and Remus.

“Great shop,” Sirius commented as he began enthusiastically flipping through rock albums.

“Impressive selection,” Remus agreed as he allowed his eyes to drift around the shop.

“Mr. Weasley!” Kemp exclaimed, “It’s wonderful to see you again.”

“Mr. Kemp,” Arthur answered genially, approaching the man with an outstretched hand, “meet some friends of mine, Mr. Lupin and Mr. Black.”

It took Sirius a moment to pry himself away to join in the introductions. The elders chatted for the last few minutes of business while the younger pair completed the closing routine. As they exited the shop Sirius asked, “So, are we ready to meet Pandora?”

“Not quite. We need to visit Karen. Actually, mostly her father. And then on to the Rookery.”

The group chatted pleasantly, but no explanation for Mr. Weasley’s presence came forward. When they reached the Blakemores’, Karen launched herself through the door after Charlie’s knock, but almost fell face first, stumbling when she caught herself at the odd group that was with him. Charlie caught her and gave her a fairly chaste kiss while steadying her.

“Hey Ren, I’m just picking up that old battery from your dad,” he said, ignoring the snickers from Sirius. “These are some family friends, Remus and Sirius.” 

None of the group missed her reaction to those names as she reached a hand out to greet them.

“Family names. Very old fashioned, we know,” Remus answered her unspoken question while giving her a warm smile.

Charlie excused himself to speak with Mr. Blakemore and that left the odd group at the front door. Due to the cold, Karen retreated a few steps to grab her coat and closed the door, speaking primarily with Ron in an attempt to cover her lingering embarrassment. After a few minutes, Charlie emerged, struggling a little with a black box about the size of a bludger case, although based on Charlie's reaction and the way he was moving it, it was quite a bit heavier.

“Ren, I’m sorry, but we’ve got to go. I can try to come back later tonight for a bit?” Charlie finished, looking to his father, who nodded. “If you’re up to it?” he said, turning back to her. After her nod, he kissed her and said, “I should be back in an hour or two.”

As the group walked down the sidewalk, Sirius broke the silence, “Struggling a bit with that?” gesturing to the box Charlie was struggling with.

“Here,” Charlie said, swinging it to Sirius. “No magic.”

The battery fell and was barely caught by a surprised Sirius. After a shared laugh from the rest of the group, a few quick charms were applied and the group continued walking until a quiet enough alley was identified and a few cracks later the group was walking across the garden of the Rookery.

Pandora and Luna greeted the men at the door and the battery was handed over. Once it was set on a work surface, the lightening charms were removed, and Pandora began carefully etching a few of her runes on it with her wand, then cast a few spells silently.

“Stubby Boardman!” Came the excited call from the stairs. “It’s a real pleasure.”

“Sirius Black, dear. Not Stubby Boardman,” Pandora interrupted him absent-mindedly.

“Are you sure?” Xenophilius asked as he finished entering the room.

“Even if she’s not, I am,” Sirius said with a grin. “I wish I was Stubby. I would imagine it’s better than Azkaban, no matter who he is.”

The men shook hands and completed introductions while Pandora, Ron, and Luna worked or ‘helped.’ 

After a few minutes of preparation with a few wiring hookups, Pandora stated loudly, “Finished.” She then began to explain the set-up, pointing first to the battery, then the cords, and telly in turn. Then, she got to the end of the list, pointing to a black box and a more colorful box sitting on top of it. “This is a VHS tape and player. The tape shows a muggle ‘film,’ and that reads the tape, which shows it on the television. I’ve charged the battery and this is our first test.” She paused, looking at the gathered audience. “Luna, put the tape in.”

It took a few attempts, but Luna eventually got the tape in, and Pandora continued, “We weren’t sure having never seen anything like this before what film to get. So I went to the muggle shop and asked for one about a wizard and they recommended this one.” She held up the box. “It’s called the 'Wizard of Oz'.” As she finished, she turned to the screen expectantly, nothing had happened.

Ron felt a tap on his shoulder and looked back to see a smile on Charlie’s face, “You may want to give them a hand.”

“We don’t need help,” Luna stated calmly. She appeared to be reading the manual for the VCR upside-down. “We need no rescuing.” Without looking, Luna reached over and pressed a button on the VCR, and the tv screen came to life.

There were a few gasps as the film started. The project was a success and Pandora turned it off, over some loud protestations.

“Well, it sort of works.” Luna said, sounding a little disheartened by the perceived failure.

“How do you mean?” Charlie asked.

“It’s all in black and white. That doesn’t seem right.” Luna answered.

“Oh, right. It’s supposed to look like that. Older films were in black and white, newer ones have color.” Charlie explained.

“So it works,” Pandora deduced, before turning to Sirius and Remus. “But why are you two here?”

“To make an offer to you and the Weasleys,” Remus answered.

When the rest of the group, including Sirius, simply looked at him, he turned to his best friend. “Care to take over?”

“No,” Sirius said with a smile, “I’ll interrupt if I disagree or if something is getting missed.”

Remus gave his friend a flat glare, “Right. I decided Sirius should actually do something with his family money. I also believe that introducing some muggle culture into the wizarding world might lessen some of the bigotry, at least bigotry due to ignorance. As such, I propose opening a shop that uses your innovations in Diagon Alley.”

All eyes turned to the pair.

“How would that work?” Charlie spoke first.

“However we decided it would work.” Remus answered, “Although we have some ideas for staffing.”

Pandora arched a single eyebrow, “And those would be?”

Remus’ eyes dropped suddenly finding something very interesting on the floor.

“Moony here wants a job.” Sirius said with a broad smile on his face, slapping his friend on the back.

“And we would sell?” Pandora asked.

“Largely up to you. You could just sell the batteries, stereos, or even records. Whatever you want, really.” Remus answered.

“Could you give us a moment?”

Remus and Sirius nodded and turned for the door. Once it had snapped shut, silence reigned for a moment before Charlie turned to his father, “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it.” Though phrased like a question, it was clearly a statement.

Mr. Weasley nodded, “That and they didn’t know where the shop was. But they stopped by the Burrow to discuss it with your mother and I before we visited you.”

“What do you think, Pandora?” Charlie asked.

“It has potential, but what would you want to sell?”

“Batteries?” Ron asked.

“I doubt we could sustain a shop with just batteries.” Pandora responded.

“No. Not just batteries.” Charlie agreed, “Stereos, T.V.s, books, films. Be the only shop in Diagon Alley focused on bringing muggle culture into the wizarding world.

Pandora smiled, “You've thought about this.”

Charlie nodded, “Ron had made a comment this past summer and it’s been stuck in my head. Plus the Hogwarts crowd has been going crazy for my stereo since the start of term.”

“Who would work at the shop?” Xenophilius asked.

“Remus, obviously. And me.” Pandora answered, at her husband's expression she continued, “You are here at home most days. And I’m sure Luna wouldn’t mind coming into the shop and working sometimes.”

The little blond bobbed her head enthusiastically.

“I also had an idea about the batteries.” Ron spoke up, after a moment he continued, “We don’t have to explain the whole process, right? So why not cover the runes and just sell the batteries? We could discount the next set if people return them…” He trailed off at the looks he was getting.

Charlie put his hands on Ron’s shoulder, “Nice idea, kid. That could work.”

“So you’re doing it?” Mr. Weasley asked, clearly excited.

“I guess, but if none of the Weasleys work there, it’s not really our decision.” Charlie answered.

“Of course it is. All of this wouldn’t be possible without you two.” Pandora scolded gently, “Of course we’ll work out a way for you to get some percentage of the profits. And maybe Ron could work a day or two in the shop? I’d happily help him get there and help with his lessons.” The last was said to Mr. Weasley.

“That might work, but it’s pretty cold out there. Might want to let them know your answer.” Mr. Weasley answered, nodding to the door.

After Remus and Sirius were collected from outside the conversation continued on how the shop would operate for another 20 minutes before the Weasleys took their leave and proposed another meeting to continue discussing the finer points. Once outside, Charlie made for town to spend the evening with Karen, while Mr. Weasley and Ron headed for the apparition point.

“Do you want to keep working with Mr. Kemp in town?” Mr. Weasley asked Ron who nodded fervently in response, “Do you want to work at the new shop with Mrs. Lovegood and Mr. Lupin?” Ron nodded again. “Can you do both?” 

Ron nodded, “I think if I get some time at the shop to keep up with my lessons it shouldn’t be that hard. Especially if Pandora helps. She’s really smart.”

Mr. Weasley stopped and asked his son, “Are you saying your mother isn’t smart?”

Ron’s eyes grew wide at the question, assuming he was in trouble, “No! Mom’s smart, she’s just…” Ron trailed off causing his father to laugh.

“There’s all kinds of smart, son. Some people can teach, some people can cook, and others can come up with great ideas.” Mr. Weasley said, “Speaking of different kinds of smart, you realize they’ll probably need your help in the new shop, right?” Pride was evident in his voice as he gripped his youngest son around the shoulder and apparated them to the Burrow.

“Why?” Ron asked after he recovered.

“You’re the only one around who has a lot of experience with muggle culture. You’ll probably need to help them stock the shelves. Especially the music stuff.”

Ron's eyes grew wide at the thought - him getting to be in charge of what was stocked. He was quiet through dinner as he let the idea wander throughout his mind.

The rest of the holiday break sped by in a flash. Before it ended, Charlie and Ron had several conversations about the shop and even talked with Kemp about it.

“I’m hoping you wouldn’t open around here?” he asked, sounding a little concerned.

“No, probably in London.” Charlie tried to calm his nerves, it didn’t work.

Kemp’s eyes about fell out of his head, “In London?! The rent is going to be really expensive.”

Charlie shrugged, “That’s where he wanted to open it. He may have more money than sense, but we’ll be able to survive for a bit.”

He gave them some advice, “Given how far London is, I’m assuming you’ll be doing this after you finish school?”

“They want to start sooner, I’m sure Ron will start helping out every now and then, and if it’s ready by summer I might be working a few days there.” Charlie answered.

“I didn’t realize I’d be losing you boys so soon.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll still be working here for a while.” Ron said.

“And I will too. I wouldn’t miss my last summer here.” Charlie followed up quickly.

A few days later the Burrow again became a shell of itself with most of the children gone again. Ron continued working at the shop with Kemp, and Ginny continued joining to visit the Blakemores becoming more consistent and by Easter was going at least one day every week and coming out of her shell more and more. 

Also starting in about April Ron started spending one day every week or so working the Pandora, Remus, and Sirius helping to find and buy stock for the grand opening of the shop in Diagon Alley. Going to various auctions, estate sales, and store closings and helping the adults find stock he thought might interest their future customers.

In the midst of all of his business, on a Saturday in May, he came home to find his mother fairly worked up though she would not explain why. 

“Ginny, what’s got mum all worked up?” Ron asked when he gave up on his direct inquiries.

“No idea. We got a floo from Sirius who invited dad across and mum stepped through for a moment before coming back. She hasn’t said much.”

The two began speculating and coming up with wild theories as to what was really going on for a few minutes but were interrupted by the roar of the fire and their father entering the room again.

“We will have a few guests for dinner next weekend.” Mr. Weasley began, “Sirius and Remus would like to introduce Sirius’ godson who recently moved in with them.

“What’s he like? How old is he?” Ginny asked quickly

“He’s about Ron’s age, and he’s pretty quiet right now.”

“What happened to his parents?” Ron asked after pausing for a moment.

“His parents died.” At the look on Ron’s face Mr. Weasley continued, “And you are not to ask him about it. Certainly not on his first visit. Up until recently he was staying with his muggle relatives and he doesn’t know much about wizarding culture. Sirius and Remus want to start introducing him to some people so he’s prepared.

The week seemed to drag on. While Ron loved working at the shop and visiting his muggle friends a lot, they were all older. Plus then he’d have someone at Hogwarts besides his brothers and their friends. Every time Ron asked his parents about the mystery guest he got no further information. In an effort to distract himself and try to speed up time Ron asked his parents to be allowed to work the Saturday before the event. It worked, the day flew by as it was busier and Ron picked out a new record he and Kemp had listened to over and over again that day.

When he got the Blakemore’s house after work he was practically exploding with anticipation which his friends couldn’t help but notice. After about an hour Karen asked, “Ron, what has you so worked up?”

“Yeah.” Colin chimed in, “You seem to be ready to bounce off the walls.”

“A family friend is bringing his godson over tomorrow for the day.” Ron answered happily.

“So?” Colin asked, “What’s he like?”

“I have no idea. I’ve never met him before.” Ron answered, “Pretty much all I know is he’s about my age.”

Karen nodded knowingly, “Yeah I get that. You should have seen Beth when some of the younger kids started coming around.” 

The rest of the evening passed without any further comment and the group continued chatting about music and life before Ron was getting picked up and taken back to the Burrow.

Ron fairly bounced out of bed on Sunday morning and immediately began his morning chores, although on the weekend that really only involved some light de-gnoming, feeding the chickens, and collecting eggs. While he was still in the coop, his father joined him.

“Up early today, I see.”

“Not that early.” Ron responded, “I just want to make sure everything is done.” 

“Good, you may want to grab yours and the twins brooms from the shed and have them ready as well.” Mr. Weasley said.

“There’s two kids coming?” Ron hesitated before saying it, remembering that Ginny’s flying was still to be kept from their parents

“I’m sure Ginny will want to join you.” Mr. Weasley said with a knowing wink to his youngest son.

Ron smiled back, “Sure thing dad.” And headed toward the shed. As they walked Mr. Weasley took the basket of eggs from his son's hand and sent them zooming into the kitchen with a quick flick of his wand.

“Son.” He said as they arrived at the shed, the formality and the tone of his father's voice stopped Ron in his tracks. After a tense moment Mr. Weasley continued, “You and your sister need to know who’s coming today. So I’m going to tell you, but you need to listen to everything. Not just who’s coming. Ok?”

Ron nodded.

“It’s Harry Potter.” Mr. Weasley almost laughed at how wide his youngest son’s eyes got, “He’s been living with muggles who… Well, they weren’t very nice to him. I met him last weekend and he was fairly quiet. He’s a normal boy, just like you. He doesn’t know that he’s famous, or at least not all of it. What he needs is someone who treats him like a friend, not a celebrity. OK?”

Ron started to freak out a little, he was meeting Harry Potter?! But his dad kept talking and by the end Ron was calmer. Still, a new friend could be fun. Plus he grew up with muggles! He’d know all about films and music and could talk about magic. It was perfect!

Ron nodded, “I can do that.”

His father held his eye for a moment longer before smiling and giving his son a pat on the shoulder, “Good, now let’s bring the brooms up and finish up these chores.”

The father and son were outside de-gnoming the garden and having a friendly competition that Ron was losing handily when a squeal tore through the air, “I think your mother just told Ginny who’s coming.” Mr. Weasley said with a small laugh, “Come on, let’s get cleaned up, they’ll be here soon. They’re coming for a late breakfast and staying all through dinner if everything goes well.”

After a shower and change Ron brought some records downstairs, based on the anticipated day it was all quieter albums that could ‘easily fade into the background’ as Kemp had said. Ron was focused on his selections so he missed his mother preparing to argue the necessity, and also failed to see his father gently stop her. After a few moments he and a very antsy Ginny gave up sitting quietly and decided to throw a quaffle in the garden until their guests showed up. Ginny requested an album so Ron grabbed his stereo and let her choose one of her small, but growing collection of cds and tapes.

The pair had been throwing the quaffle back and forth and Ron had begun intentionally over-throwing Ginny so she had to jump and move to catch it, which was starting to frustrate her. She had missed the last throw, her fingers just grazing the ball and Ron was teasing here:

“You’ll never make the Harpies if you can’t catch a simple pass!” he called, he was about to continue his taunt when over Ginny’s shoulder a boy with a mess of black hair exited the Burrow. He distantly heard his little sister shout something, but Ron couldn’t make it out clearly.

“Hi!” Ron called and was promptly hit square in the nose by the quaffle Ginny had hurled with all her strength. Ron cried out, hands going to his face as he fell backwards in a mix of shock, pain, and embarrassment. 

Ron sat up and noticed Ginny’s face was doing it’s best to match her hair and the adults were filtering out to investigate Ron’s shout. Harry hadn’t moved and almost looked frightened. As if he thought he might be blamed for the accident. Ron stood up, his nose dripping blood, and walked towards Ginny and the adults behind her.

“Nice throw, Gin. You keep that arm up and it’ll be impossible for your passes to be intercepted.” Ron said as he got to her, “But I reckon you might break a few teammates' hands.” He smiled at her as she turned with him to follow towards their parents and guests.

“Mum?” Ron called as he got closer, “Do you think you could he-OW!” his request was cut off by his own shout of pain as his mother set his nose right, “Thanks mum.”

A slightly awkward silence fell as the children stopped face to face, well Harry and Ron did, Ginny had slid slightly behind her mother.

“Hi, Harry” Ron said, tentatively reaching out a hand.

Harry gave an unsure smile, “Hi, Ron. Sorry about your nose.” 

“Why? Ginny threw it?” Ron questioned, “Do you want to play? We’re just playing catch, but I pulled out some brooms if you want to try and fly.”

“Fly?” Harry seemed startled.

“Yeah, I’ve got an old broom, but my dad said I could take the twin’s brooms out and fly with you and Ginny, since theirs are newer.”

“Arthur!” Mrs. Weasley scolded.

“Actually, Harry.” Sirius cut in smoothly, “You’ve flown on a toy broom when you were a baby, remember that picture I showed you?”

Harry nodded, looking thoughtful, “I suppose I could try. Probably just the flying though.”

Ron grabbed the twin’s brooms and handed one to Harry, “Ginny?” he held his broom out to her, “Are you going to join us?”

She squeaked and shook her head.

Ron shrugged, set the other broom back down, and turned back to Harry who was looking bemused at the broom. Over Harry’s shoulder Ron saw his father give him an encouraging nod. 

“So, what you want to do is hold it like this, right next to you. Then you put your leg over like this. You’ll feel a cushion as you sit. Do you feel it?” Ron paused and watched as Harry slowly maneuvered his leg over and slowly settled onto the invisible cushion, “Good. Alright, now you want to hold the broom like this, with your thumbs forward along the top. Right, now you can just lift your feet off the ground.” Ron said, doing it and just floating there.

Harry looked unsure, and seemed unwilling to trust the broom. All of a sudden Ginny was on Ron’s broom standing on Harry’s other side and she spoke haltingly and quietly, “If - if you’re nervous, kick off the ground, like this.” She said, jumping with the broom and popped 10 feet in the air.

Harry seemed shocked at her hovering there and then without any warning he kicked himself up to follow her and whooped with joy as he did so. Ron just pulled up and slowly rose to meet the other two. Ron was about to start offering Harry some advice for steering, but Harry didn't seem to need it as he began testing the broom's maneuverability.

“This is wonderful!” Harry shouted, elated. He was bobbing up and down a few feet, testing the broom then left and right.

“How fast can they go?” Harry asked happily.

“These? Not all that fast. They’re all older. Charlie has one at school that can go over 100 miles an hour, but I think these wouldn’t even hit 60. The one that Ginny’s on is usually mine and it’s the slowest.”

Harry was listening intently and nodding, “So this is up, down, left, and right.” He said, showing the movements, “But how do I go forward?”

“Right, so that’s a little tricky.” Ron said sidling next to Harry, “up is up, but slowing down is pulling back rather than up. And down is down, but sort of leaning forward and pushing forward is to go ahead.” Ron began demonstrating slowly and suddenly with a joyful shout Harry shot forward getting to top speed, laying out flat and pulling into a very wide circle around the Burrow laughing all the while.

Ron and Ginny just watched, gobsmacked at Harry’s obvious natural skill. The adults on the ground were equally shocked and began talking about a potential future as a quidditch player for Harry. After a few moments of shock Ron took off accelerating into a turn that would see Harry catch up. As Ron got up to speed he heard Harry’s laugh as he came up behind him and Ron motioned for Harry to come alongside.

“How tight do you think you could pull at this speed?” Ron shouted over the whipping wind

“I think this is about as tight as I can get!” Harry shouted back.

“Right, now watch me.” Ron called and dropped just below Harry, he rolled left and began pulling up, maintaining his speed but pulling the broom into a tighter circle while his speed pushed him onto the broom rather than trying to throw him off. Then, suddenly Harry was right above him holding the same turn with Ron.

Ron allowed himself to come out of the turn, rolling back atop his broom and then pulling a loop and holding it until he noticed Harry joining him, then Ron continued down at a steep angle barrel rolling all the way, before pulling up with 20 feet to spare. Harry had followed but kept diving and when he pulled up he was less than 5 feet from the ground.

Ron was amazed at Harry’s flying ability. Ron had gotten a lot of practice with Charlie as they flew into town, plus had been flying for years. Harry reportedly hadn’t even remembered his time as a baby on a broom and was already a better flyer.

Then Ron remembered in one of the letters he had received from the twins, they had made comments about developing some younger players over the summer. He couldn’t wait to fly with them and introduce Harry. He would be unstoppable by the time they were allowed on the team.

Ron decided to fly over and join the adults' conversation who were still animatedly talking about Harry’s skill.

“He’ll make the house team easily.” Ron chimed in, “I reckon he’d make it as a first year if they let him. I can’t imagine how good he’ll be if he gets some time to train with Charlie.”

Harry was flying down to them showing the biggest smile Remus and Sirius had yet seen from him, “That was amazing!” He shouted joyfully.

“You’re an amazing flyer.” Ron called back enthusiastically as Harry dismounted, “By the time we get to Hogwarts you’ll probably be the best flyer there. With the right broom you’ll definitely make the team second year.”

“Not first?” Harry asked

“First years aren’t allowed brooms. It’s why the twins’ are here and not with them.”

Ginny joined them and quietly added, “That was really amazing Harry.”

Harry beamed, “Thank you. And thank you Ron, want to go back up?”

Ron laughed, “Sure, but I don’t think you need practice flying. Let’s bring a quaffle and you can practice handling. We can go back to the paddock.” And with that they were off. Ron was a little ashamed to say he was happy to see Harry’s quaffle handling skills weren’t quite as good as his, or even Ginny’s. The three flew and threw the quaffle around, entirely missing the late breakfast the adults had planned and needed to be fetched for the evening meal.

Harry seemed much more at ease by the end of the day, and the Weasley’s, with the exception of Ginny, treated Harry like a normal kid. Every now and then Harry would tense up at a comment or look a little confused, but the Burrow and the nature of life with the Weasley’s seemed to reassure him. He was still a bit more guarded, but he opened up quite a bit after that day with the Weasleys. After Harry, Remus, and Sirius left, Ron and Ginny continued to rave about Harry’s skill and immediately sent a letter to their brothers.

Ron’s usual routine continued the following week, although it now included pestering his parents about when Harry would be visiting again. A few days later he received a letter from Harry, asking when he could come over again to go flying, explaining that Sirius and Remus had taken him to Diagon Alley and bought him a broom of his own, but living in London he couldn’t really try it out. Once Ron got permission he wrote back that he could come over for the day again on the following Sunday. This new routine added another activity to Ron’s rapidly filling schedule between working with Kemp and seeing the Blakemores on Tuesdays and Saturdays, his lessons, his chores, and helping Sirius, Remus, and Pandora.

After a week, his lessons began to suffer and his father approached him, “Son, it may be time to go to one day a week during the school year so you can make sure your lessons are getting done. Especially if you want to keep doing everything.”

“Yearh, and Reums and Sirius have started asking for more help too. I’ll talk to Kemp on Saturday and let him know I’ll go to one day a week for the next few weeks until Charlie comes home. I’ll ask which day he’d prefer and then I’ll plan on working with Sirius and Remus on the other day. Plus, that way i’ll get to see Harry more!”

The following weeks flew by and soon the Weasley home was full and chaotic again. The rest of the family needed to be reminded to treat Harry as they would anyone else prior to the first Sunday which had become the regular visiting by Harry and his guardians.

All of the Weasley children were properly impressed by Harry’s flying. The twins were especially excited by the prospect. Charlie began running Harry through some drills and eventually had Harry shadow him as he tried to shake him off, but Harry followed him through every dive, loop, and barrel roll. Some if it was down to Harry having a newer broom, and some was Charlie not going all out. But he was suitably impressed.

The following week was a busy one as Pandora, Sirius, and Remus set that weekend for the opening of the shop. As such Ron didn’t switch his working schedule with Kemp, instead he and his siblings spent day after day in Diagon Alley, preparing for the big open. The build-up was immense. Ron was sure, no matter what, it couldn’t be as big of a deal as the adults were acting.

He was wrong, nothing could have prepared him for the opening of “The Magic of Muggles”.


End file.
